Dark Debut!
by PrinceKat
Summary: Princess Riki goes to the other world to find her other self, but is Riki really what she seems...? Also includes Princess Riki's side of the story. Rated T for language and content. This is not the story for you if you have something against incest.
1. Prologue

_"Sissy! I'm going out to swim in the lake with my friend, okay? I'll be back later!" A girl grins as she waves her hand at her sister._

_"Whatever... be back by dinner or else I'll just eat your food." Another girl lies on the grass with a book covering her face, with a boy of similar age sitting beside her, gently throwing rocks into the lake that lies at their feet, so as not to annoy the girl beside him._

_"Okay! Let's go Vic!" The girl runs hand in hand with her blonde haired friend, the two of them giggling to themselves._

* * *

"Hey, Riki? 'Ya listening?" Catherine gently elbows me in the side, bringing me back into reality.

"..Hm? No, not really." I sigh, rustling my hand through my chocolate brown hair. Those flashbacks are going to literally kill me soon.

Her arm comes around my neck, cutting off my air supply. "Geez Riki, you're such a space-case these days! Thinking about some awesome guy?"

I roll my eyes, and sarcastically reply with, "Yeah, I was just thinking about how great it'd be if some handsome prince came and whisked me away."

"Well, what if there's a prince in our school?" Catherine grinned, poking me in the cheek.

"...Really...?" I didn't expect her to take my joke so seriously.

"Really! Like, maybe Victor is a prince? He's kind of cute." My blood freezes, and I jerk away from her friendly grip. My whole body starts shaking, and my stomach pain slightly resurfaces, but then goes back down.

"No way, not in a million years would that little cunt be a prince! It's more likely that my parent's will actually come home for the weekend then him being princely!" She puts her hands up like 'okay, okay, don't kill me!'.

"Okay, fine... well, how about Keith, his polar opposite? He's cool AND smart, what's not to like? Plus, aren't the two of you friends?" She smirks. I raise an eyebrow in response.

"I will admit that we are on somewhat good terms, but things would be a LOT better if his fangirls would stop pounding on me everytime we just exchange 'hellos' to each other." Her smile kind of falters, and she traces a circle around my eye, which is sporting my latest black circle of pain.

"I guess so. They can get kinda out of hand for the silliest reasons..."

"Anyway... what if Carlos was the prince?" I'm mostly just joking around with her now, enjoying her reactions and the like.

"That flirting dirt bag? He hits on, like, every girl he sees!" She waves her arms around to emphasize her statement.

"Well, his lines are always romantic, right? They just suck after he uses them time and time again." I shrug.

Catherine wrinkles her nose,"I guess so. What about Leon?"

"Leon? That really, super nice guy? He's such a big softy." I smile slightly.

"Yeah! He even waters the flowers in the classroom everyday, without the teacher even asking!" Catherine eyes sparkle, as she drools a little bit. I snap my fingers in front of her face, making her gasp.

"Er... Let's not forget the most important prince-potential-person!" She coughed, her face slightly flushed from embarrassment. I force a laugh back down my throat.

"Who?"

"Isn't it obvious?! I'm talking about Kyle, the school's star basketball player!" She wags her finger at me.

I gag,"N-no thanks, I already have my hands full with one set of rabid fangirls, I don't need more on my trail."

"I guess you have a point... but still, stop being so fickle!"

"Not a possibility." I smirk.

"You're impossible!" Catherine throws her arms up in the air, before grinning, as if she just remembered something. My smirk falters, with my suspicion receptor getting larger.

"Oh yeaaah, doesn't your sister's little childhood friend live next to you?" I flinch.

"You talkin' about me again, Riki?" A hand smacks me on the back, while another arm brings me into a suffocating hug.

"L-Lucas!...Wait, what are you doing over here? We're by Catherine's house... our houses are on the other side of town." I tilt my head way up at him, staring into his amber eyes. He looks away, scratching his cheek, and lets go of me completely.

Catherine sniggers,"Is that the infamous lost boy?"

"I-I don't get lost! I just take slight detours! Small ones! I wouldn't get lost if Rietta would get her ass to school, or if Riki would stop abandoning me!" Lucas points at me, thinking that this makes everything my fault, even though he really just admitted to the exact opposite.

"Ohohohoho! So you're forever lost without your little girl pals?" Catherine snatches me away from my spot near him, grinning while holding me reaaaally close to her.

"I didn't say that! C'mon Riki, let's go!" Lucas grabs my one free hand, and tries to pull me away, but Catherine's grip is unbreakable. Her grin widens.

"You're even going home together? Great!" She lets go, making me collide into Lucas, who was pulling so hard I think my wrist will be bruised. "Don't forget that I'm coming to pick you up later for our class party, Riki!"

Catherine waves her little fingers at us before running off into the horizon. Lucas coughs into his hand slightly.

"Do you think you could stop gawking, and we could get going?"

I smile... just a little bit. Then I lead that loser home, all the while he's griping about 'how slow I am', and 'how I don't know where I'm going'. I told him that if I didn't know where I was going he would be welcome to going home by himself, which shut him up.

"There's your house Lucas, are you able to find your front porch, or do I need to help you there too?" I punch him in the shoulder in a friendly matter. He frowns and hits me back.

"No! I can do it myself! Say hi to Riet for me!" He goes off on a tangent while he takes the few steps between our houses. I make myself watch him as he goes in, just to make sure that dumbass actually makes it inside. After he does, I turn and go into my own house, making sure to slam the door as loud as I can.

"I'm home." I mumble, mostly just to myself. There's nobody home anymore anyway, so there's no real point to me announcing my arrival.

_**Not since she died.**_

I trudge my way up the stairs, stomping my feet. I kick my door open, and stare at my two colored room.

One side is dark blue, and the other is bright pink, with the colors split down the middle. Everything is the same, except for the two closets. The one on the dark blue side of the room is old and yellow, while the one on the pink side of the room is brand new and purple. It kind of shows how prejudice my parent's were between the two of us, but it doesn't bother me anymore, and it hasn't for a long time. I flop down on my chair in front of the mirror. I look deep into the mirror, staring at my dark circle. I reach for my usual makeup and start my daily ritual.

Right as I'm finished, I notice that the purple closet is making a weird noise. I slowly make my way over to it, and reach over to open it, but before I can do that, a pink abomination flies out of my closet and slams onto my multicolored rug.

"...What the...?" I mutter, rubbing my eyes to make sure I'm not hallucinating again.

"Oww...wait... We did it Kip! We made it to the other world alive!" The pink thing jumped up victoriously. I take a closer look... and then I fall backwards on my ass. This girl looks EXACTLY like... but that's impossible...

"Yay~! I knew we could do it!" A flying mouse with a pink mask and a cheese wand squeaked.

"Riki...?" My face blanches, and it seems to attract their attention towards me finally.

"Oh! You must be the me from the world!" The girl runs up to me and grabs both of my hands, shaking them up in down in excitement.

I give her a dubious stare,"What are you talking about..?"

She ignores me,"Nice to meet you! What's your name?!"

"Er... it's, uh, Riki..."

"Really?! We even have the same name! That's so sweet!" Her eyes sparkle. "I'm Riki too! I'm a princess!"

"...Princess?"

"Yeah, and this is my tutor, Kip!" She gestures towards the flying mouse, who I had temporarily forgotten about.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Riki! Kip Harmoon Stallon the 777th, at your service!" My eyes widen.

"The 777th?"

"Well, I suppose I could tell you my family story! So, a long time ago-" The princess cuts in.

"Kip! It'll take you forever to tell that story!"

"Oh no! I just lose all sense of rationality when it comes to my name! You can just call me Kip!"

"..." I just stare at the princess, trying to organize my thoughts. She puts her face extremely too close to mine for my comfort levels to be well.

"What's wrong? You don't look too good."

"Well... I'm just trying to figure out if you're real or not. After all... you're..." I trail off, narrowing my eyes.

"Well, I guess it would be weird to see something fly out of your closet."

"So... what do you need, miss princess?" I poke her cheek.

"We need to ask you for a favor..." She twiddled her thumbs, and staring up at me... which was reminding me of her something awful.

"W-What do you want?"

"Well, my kingdom holds an annual dance party called the "Ball in Saint-Lyon"."

"...Your kingdom is called Saint-Lyon?"

"Hm? No, it's called the Flower Kingdom."

"Then why's it called the Ball in Saint-Lyon..?"

"Beats me. Anyway, I'm supposed to partner up with some kingdom's prince for the dance... but.."

"But?"

"I'm really bad at dancing!...So I ran away!"

"..Was that really the best solution? You should have given this more thought before you did action."

"...Well... I'm already here, so it's too late for that. Anyway, it's being held in our kingdom!"

"..How do I get there?"

"Huh? Through the closet, of course. It's in another world." She seemed really serious... much too serious to be lying.

"Well... ok. And what does this have to do with me?"

The mouse popped up,"It has everything to do with you! We need you to replace the princess and take her part in the Ball in Saint-Lyon!"

"That's right! So, pleaaase~, will you?" They gave me pleading puppy eyes. It was rather too adorable to refuse.

"..Well, I guess it'd be ok. It's not like I have anything to lose anymore, and it sounds rather fun. Plus, I get to dance..." I mumble to myself.

"So?!"

"Yeah, sure. Since we're practically sisters, I'll do you this one favor. Just this once."

"Yay!" The princess smothered me with hugs, just like my sister would when she'd get her way.

Kip opens the door of the purple closet,"Right this way, Miss Riki!" Inside the closet was a huge purple vortex.

"What happened to the closet?!"

"Oh, don't worry, it's not going to destroy anything." Kip pats my shoulder, before going in.

"Mmm.. okay. Goodbye Princess." I make my way over to the closet, but get stopped at the last second by the princess.

"What is it?" I turn back to face her. She looks much more serious now.

"There's an emerald necklace in my bedroom on the wall, please don't touch it under any circumstances!"

"Sure, but in exchange, don't go into the basement. I cannot stress how important it is that you don't go down there!...Oh yeah, and my friend Catherine will be coming over soon, so you need to get ready." I point my finger at her, then jump down the vortex.

* * *

_"Hey... Are you still awake?" The girl poked her sister, who was trying to sleep in her half of the room._

_"..Yes, I'm awake. Thanks to you." The sister sits up, puffing her cheeks to show how angry she is._

_"I can't sleep... can I stay with you?" The sister stares at the girl, before sighing and pulling up her covers. The younger girl squeals with delight and jumps into the bed, snuggling up against her sister._

_"...Are you asleep yet?"_

_"Not with you talking so loud I'm not." The younger girl props her head up on the pillow with her hands, and stares at her sister with glee._

_"Do you believe in princes and princesses, Sis?"_

_"No, I don't."_


	2. Chapter 1: Meet boys until you die

"Oof!" All the air is knocked out of me as I land face first into a hideous pink carpet, scratching up my face that I had just finished fixing.

"Well? What do you think? This is the Flower Kingdom!" Kip grins, flying around the room.

I look out the window, and see bright colors galore, as well as clothed animals walking around like it was the normal. Considering it was happening and nobody was sounding an alarm, I guessed that it really was.

"It's really... peaceful." I stare at it... slightly resenting how nice it all seemed.

"Isn't it? This will be your home for the next month!" Kip smiles, as he rustles through a drawer of the dresser. He lets out a victory squeak as he pulls out an emerald encrusted tiara. He passes it to me.

"Here, wear this for the dinner party!" I comply with his request, and my school uniform transforms into a replica of the dress the princess had been wearing.

"...Dinner party? When is it?"

He was about to reply, but he's cut off by somebody knocking on the door.

"Oh good, they're here!"

"Huh? Who..."

The door burst open, and three more mice rush in.

One squeaks,"Please, get changed al-oh you're all ready to go? M-My goodness, this is truly a miracle!"

Another one dabs their eye with a handkerchief,"The princess has finally decided to get serious about her princess duties! This is truly a glorious day!"

I let out a small cough,"Well... anyway, shall we go? I'm sure the king is waiting for us."

"You're right! Come along now Princess!" The four of them scooted me out the door, into a castle, down some hallways, and onto a stage with closed curtains.

"Oh! My little Riki, there you are!" A booming voice catches my attention, and before I know it, I'm enveloped in yet another oxygen killing hug. I seem to get these a lot lately.

"Oh! Your Majesty, King Crown!" One of the mice gasped in awe.

King? Must be the princess' father then.

"Let's get started, it'll be splendid now that my little girl is here!" He ruffles my hair.

He leads me to a grand looking chair, and has me take a seat. He sits beside me in a bigger scale version of my chair, and the curtain rises, revealing a large, grand hall packed with people.

It reminds me of something from long ago...

_A girl gently brushes her younger sister's hair, whose eyes are closed dreamily._

_"Hey, Sis?" The younger one opens her eyes and tilts her head up._

_"What is it __**now**__?"_

_"Do you know how a princess acts?"_

_"...No, I don't. I've never read any of those kinds of books."_

_"A princess should always be calm and cool! One that never shows any nasty emotions like anger!" The girl pumps her fist._

_"...By those standards I will never be a princess."_

_"Of course! That's because you forgot something, silly!"_

". . .and so, let the party begin!" A bell chiming brings me back to my senses. It occurs to me that I was spacing through the whole speech. Really... those flashbacks will truly kill me someday.

"Let's go socialize princess!" Kip grabs my hand, and leads me down to the ground floor.

"Do I have to?" I sigh.

"Yes! You do! Your father will kill me if you don't find a partner!... oh! Here comes a prince right now!" Kip hides somewhere, as a prince with blonde hair comes up towards me.

"Yo! You're the princess here, right?" The voice sends chills down my spine, telling me to run away. I look up to see a replica of Victor, my worst enemy. I want to just run away, but I remember what my sister told me as a child, and I force myself to calm down.

"Yes, I am. It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Riki." I give him a small curtsy.

"Cool! My names Vincent Wright, but you can just call me Vince!" He looks around. I almost asked him if he had A.D.D.

"This castle sure is big! Do you think you could show me around?" He grinned at me, which just made me want to run away, but I stood my ground.

"Er... I would have to ask my father.." It was a small lie, but it wouldn't kill anyone.

"Oh! I'll go ask him for you!" With that, Vince took off. Not like it mattered to me, but it sure helped me loosen up.

A rose suddenly invades my vision, and I look at the holder to see a disgusting Carlos replica. I nearly gag.

"Well! If it isn't my adorable little Princess Riki! You're as cute as ever!" Blah blah blah, I wasn't really listening to what he was saying.

Before I knew it he had already walked away, seeming satisfied. I had no idea what his name is, and I didn't really care.

I continue to roam around alone, when I spot a silver haired boy standing alone in the corner. I approach him, and slightly tap his shoulder. He swerves around, surprised at the sudden social interaction.

"Keith..?" I tilt my head, and tap my cheek.

"Keith?" The Keith look-a-like raises his eyebrow.

"..No, you're not him. Anyway... would you like to come out from this corner and maybe chat...?"

"Why would you want to do that? What could you possibly gain from that transaction?"

"...Well, a new friend would be nice, I guess..." The boy gives me a fleeting smile before it disappears.

"Mmm... you're a strange one, aren't you?"

"No, not really. I mean... maybe?"

"Indeed." He turns and walks off into the crowd. Kip pops up and smacks me on the shoulder.

"That is Prince Kiefer Bergmann of the Nezzie Kingdom! He's the smartest prince you'll find!"

"I see. Well, I'm going over there now..." I turn to walk away from Kip, but then I'm being mowed down by another prince, who's in enough of a hurry that he pile drove the princess into the floor. I lay there, head in my hand, waiting for the guy to get off me. Not in any erotic way, he's just lying horizontally across my back. I turn my head around to see if he's even conscious, and meet the angry amber eyes of the Lucas clone... who'd been the one person I had hoped I wouldn't meet.

"You should watch where you're going!" The boy barked at me as he got up, and then yanked me up onto my feet, of whom were not quite ready to stand yet, so I slightly lurched forward and knocked my head on his chest. I quickly recollected myself and broke away from him, waving my arms around in panic.

"I'm so sorry...!" I turn and start walking away really quickly, but I get stopped by a hand on my arm. I freak out, but it's just Kip.

"What the hell are you doing?! That was Prince Luciano Barbosa of the Garadium Kingdom, and he's a great dancer!"

"H-He looks like my sister's best friend Lucas... sorry." I mutter, before walking away. Kip continues lecturing me about how important the ball is, but I ignore his rambling, and take notice of a large crowd in another part of the dining hall. I look closer to see it's just a handsome guy, who looks suspiciously like Kyle from school, surrounded by a bunch of rabid princesses.

"...Kyle?"

"That's Prince Klaus Rosencrans of the Republic of Lamor. He's really popular amongst the princesses." He elbows me slightly.

"I'd imagine so... with a kingdom named 'Lamor', you had better be damned good at romance... otherwise you look like a pansy." Kip smiles, but the noise from the center of the storm recaptures my attention.

"Prince Klaaaaus! You should join me for the opera!" A girl with pink ponytails screeches, while tugging on Klaus' arm. She was pressing her body against his arm, thinking that would 'help' him decide.

Another girl with blue hair and a fancy fan grabs Klaus' other arm, mimicking the other,"No! You should take a walk with me through the gardens!"

They continue to bicker and pull the poor guy's body apart. I decide I'd rather not get between the two of them, and turn away from them. As I'm doing that, I get a whiff of something delightful.

"Mmm... hey Kip, what's that wonderful smell?" Kip sniffs the air, before smiling.

"That's the inner garden~! Do you want to go?" I nod vigorously.

"Yeah, let's go." This place is annoying.

As we're walking down the corridors to the garden, we collide, AGAIN, with the fear striking Luciano. This time I think I nearly cracked my skull on his chest.

"Ow! God damn, is your head made of solid steel?!" Luciano shoved me away, making me slam into the wall. After that, he seemed to be a bit apologetic about his actions.

"H-Hey... are you alright? That looked pretty serious..." He reached out his hand, but I swatted it away.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. It's not a big deal, I know it was just an involuntary movement." Lucas had plenty of those when we were younger. He'd run into someone, and then push them away as hard as he could.

He looked at me, shocked at how nonchalant I was being,"That's great... uh..."

"Oh, uh, i-it's Riki... my name's Riki." I pause momentarily, remembering Lucas' base trait. "Hey.. are you possibly.. lost, Luciano?" His whole body seemed to heat up at the accusation.

"W-What?! No, I'm not lost!" He growls. It was obviously a lie.

"Oh, ok. Then I'll see you around, Kip and I are going to the inner garden." We brush past him, but he reaches out and roughly yanks my arm back, but then lets go.

"Uh... I could...go with you, if you want..." Ahh, so that's it. He's trying to find the garden.

"...Sure. That's fine, right Kip?" I turn to Kip, but he suddenly wasn't there. I realized he was trying to match-make me with Luciano, and nearly lost my shit right then and there.

"What's wrong? Let's go." I sigh and turn around, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket. Luciano looked like he might blow a casket himself.

"Nothing, let's get going. It's just down the hall anyway." I think.

After some awkward walking, we did arrive at the garden. I release Luciano, and take a deep breath, inhaling the smell of the flowers.

He smirks,"What, you don't see these flowers everyday? This IS the Flower Kingdom, it shouldn't be that rare."

"I don't get to go out much, okay!?" I turn and snap on him, having lost my cool for just a moment. I stop, take a deep breath, and smack my face with both my hands. Then I turn and bow to Luciano for just a moment. "I must apologize, it was unnecessary of me to get angry at you for such a trivial thing. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

I turn and rush off, but get stopped by the devil reincarnated himself.

"HEY RIKI! OVER HERE, IT'S ME, VINCE!" My stomach lurches, and I nearly vomit.

"Is that your friend?"

"No...not really." I sadly walk over towards Vince and some other boy that's a green wonderland. No, really. His entire body radiated green. I was almost wondering if he was radioactive.

"This is my new friend Liam!" Vince gestures towards the older boy. The boy takes my right hand and kisses it, making my eye twitch.

"It's nice to meet you, princess Riki. I'm Liam Goodrich of the Green Kingdom." Seriously? There's a kingdom that named itself after a color? It explains his attire though.

"Ah... it's good to meet you too, Liam. This is my...uh, friend(?) Luciano..." I motion to Luciano, who's just been standing there silently. I didn't even know he was actually there, I was just kind of hoping he'd be. Luciano and Liam have some sort of manly stare off, before somehow diminishing their internal skirmish and shake hands.

Liam finishes that and turns back to me,"So, Riki, do you have a favorite flower?"

"Mmm... my favorite flower is most likely sunflowers."

"Really? That suits you perfectly." He smiles, and for a moment I'm creeped out, before I decide it's probably just a Leon-Liam thing.

"No, not really. I only like them because of... uh, never mind. Do you know where the sunflowers are, Liam?" I completely brush off my unfinished sentence, pretending it hadn't happened. I don't think I did so well, because they were staring at me, but then Liam followed my lead and pointed towards a corner of the garden.

"They're over there, do you want me to guide you?"

"Thanks anyway, but I can do it myself. Unless Luci over there wants to join me." I start walking away, and, as I predicted, Luciano caught up to argue with me about the nickname.

"What the hell are you calling me Luci for!?"

"I'm doing it because it's cute, of course." His face heats up, and I nearly laugh, but my sister's voice rings out loud and clear through my head.

_"A princess should always be calm and cool!"_

"If you want me to stop, you'll have to make me, Luci~" I mock him, before running off. My head suddenly has a major pulsating headache, and I collapse into the sunflower bed. I can tell when he stands behind me, because it suddenly gets darker because of his shadow towering over me. He crouches down, and slightly nudges my head with his foot.

"I don't think that I'll need to do that, if you just fall everywhere..." I groan, and grab my head, curling my body into a circle, and it occurs to me in the back of my mind that by doing so I'm killing tons of sunflowers, but I'm in too much pain to even bring myself to care.

"Hey, are you ok? Is your head hurting from earlier?...Riki?"

I bring one of my hands out from behind my head, and my vision is slightly blurry, but I'm still able to make out that my hands are full of blood.

"Princess! Are you ok!?" I barely register the voice of Kip, who's yelling as I black out.


	3. Chapter 1PR: The fun starts here

After Kip and Riki left, I could barely contain my excitement! No dancing! No princes! No more being reprimanded by Kip for not being able to do any of it!

I want to explore the place, but I remember that Riki said her friend would be over soon. I scramble to the closet that they just left through, and I'm relieved to see that there's clothes my size in there that suit my tastes. I grab a pink frilly camisole and a pair of saturated pink pants, and as I put them on I notice that there's two dolls lying there on the vanity that Riki had been at when we came through the vortex. I look closer and notice that they look similar in posture and height, but one has black hair in a short ponytail, brown eyes, looks really angry,and wears a princely outfit, while the other one is a princess doll version of Riki. I look at the room, and decide that the other girl must be the other occupant of the room, since there are two beds.

My train of though is cut off by a doorbell being abused. I turn and run out the bedroom door, down the stairs, and open the door with all my strength. That wasn't my best idea, since it smacked me right in the face.

"Dang, girl! You nearly took out your eye! Anyway, if you're all done mutilating your face, let's go!" A blue haired girl, who I assume is Catherine, grabbed my hand and dragged me off to some place.

"Where are we?" I look around, amazed at how future-y this world looks.

"What are you talking about? I told you that our classmates were having a party. Did that door mess with your brain?" She teased.

"E-Er... yeah, that's it!" Well, it'd be a decent explanation for why I won't be able to know anyone's name.

"Oh, that's ok! We can just go bug Lucas then!" Catherine swerves us all the way around, and goes back to Riki's house, but turns into the yard next to it. As we go through the yard, I see somebody looking at us from upstairs, but they close the curtains before I can tell who they are.

"HEY LUCAS! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE SO WE CAN HAVE SOME FUN!" Catherine pounds on the door, and even when it opens she continues the motion, hitting some taller boy, whom I assume is Lucas, in the face repeatedly. Lucas grabbed her hand, and seemed to be really angry, but all the anger melted away from his face when he saw me, lying on the porch, exhausted from being dragged around by Catherine.

"Oh, hey Riki. Is Riet home yet?" Who? I wrack my brain, trying to remember if Riki mentioned anything about a 'Riet' before she left. I draw a blank, so I just shake my head with a 'no'. His whole body slumps, making it obvious that he's disappointed. He runs his hand through his hair, and sighs.

"So, what do you guys want?"

"Aww, you don't want to hang out with little ol' us, Lucas?" Catherine gives him a puppy dog look.

"No, I don't."

"What if I give you a secret picture of Riet going to the swimming pool last year?" That seemed to catch his attention.

"...Fine. Come on in." Catherine laughed hysterically and handed him a photo. I felt ashamed for the poor girl.

The three of us sat in a pile and played something called 'monopoly'. After a few hours Lucas flipped the board off the table, screaming that Catherine is a cheating bitch. We left, and Catherine walked me back over to my house.

After I get back inside, I decide to play explorers. I crawl around Riki's house, opening every door, cupboard, etc. Most of the rooms are empty, or just filled with boxes marked with "Rietta" or "Riki" or both. I'd open them, but I'm much too hungry to do that. I wander back into the kitchen, and go through the fridge. I notice the large amount of leftovers she keeps in it. Again, some things are marked "Rietta" or "Riki". I grab a box of what seems to be pizza, and skip up the stairs to Riki's split bedroom. I flop down onto the dark side's bed, but I yelp from the large bump under the covers sticking into my butt. I throw back the covers, expecting to find a toy or something, which would be weird since Riki's probably 15, but that's beside the point, seeing as she DOES own two dolls. All that flies from my mind, as I come face to face with a metal object.

It's a gun.

My mind shuts down.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tomorrow I'll fix my stupid computer and upload some images.

Also, these chapters will be on the shorter side until we get farther into this stupid obvious "mystery".

Man, I need some soda.


	4. Chapter 2:Puke everywhere possible

I wake up from my dreamless sleep. It was actually rather pleasant, I should try to pass out more often if it prevents my normal dreams. I look around, and I nearly wonder where the hell I am, but...

"Princess! Are you ok?!" Kip shrieks, instantly clearing my mind of all confusion.

That's right, I'm Princess Riki, I'm in the Flower Kingdom, and my head hurts like no tomorrow.

"Yeah, yeah Kip, I'm fine. What's on the agenda for today?" I get up from my pink bed, despite not remembering ever coming back. I could have sworn I had passed out in the inner garden.

"Well... if you're feeling up to it, dancing lessons start today." Kip fidgeted around, displaying his worry for my well-being. It was kind of nice, since I've never had anyone worry about me. Well, besides my sister, but she doesn't count because she's dead.

"Dancing? I'm always up for dancing. Let's go." I throw on my tiara and let Kip guide me outside and only a few minutes later we reach the Practice Hall.

Kip opens a door, revealing a small dance studio,"This is the Practice Hall."

I look around,"So...do I practice by myself? That sounds fine, but it's not much of a lesson that way..."

"You would have somebody to dance with if you had tried for a harder!"

"True, but I've only ever had one dance partner, and it's hard to readjust." I mutter under my breath.

"Don't worry, I got you an instructor!" A bunny pops up. It's wearing a top hat and a tuxedo, which would be cute if I liked bunnies. My sister was the more animal friendly type, I'm just a bundle of problems.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Tony Rabbit,and I'll be your dance instructor!"

Tony...Rabbit? I guess that's just a theme here...

"It's nice to meet you too, my name is Riki." I bow to him, trying to not seem like an asshole.

"He may not look like it, but Tony is the greatest dancer in the whole Flower Kingdom!" Kip pipes up, and it strikes me funny how he basically just insulted Tony without meaning to.

"Really? Well, I'm ready to learn then."

"Glad to hear it! If you will just give me a moment... traaaaaaaansforrrrm!" Tony jumped into the air, and all his proportions changed into that of a human. He's still a bunny though.

"Cool..."

"Tony can transform using magic." I look at Kip, taking in this information.

"So, does that mean you can transform too, Kip?"

"T-That's a secret!" Kip flails around. Apparently this is a taboo subject.

"Let us begin." Tony takes my hand, and I nod.

It wasn't good, but it wasn't too bad either. It **has** been awhile since I last danced, so it couldn't really be helped. Tony seemed pleased though.

"Fantastic! You must be a natural dancer, Riki!" He praises me as I'm doubled over, clutching my stomach.

Shit, the ONE most important thing, and I completely forgot about it...!

"T-Thanks... well, I'm going to go home and rest up for tomorrow... see you tomorrow Tony.." I stumble out the door, with Kip trailing behind me, eyeing me warily.

"Are you okay, princess? You look like you're going to be sick..." I break out into a really fast paced walk, taking extremely deep breaths, trying to delay my sickness from emerging. I burst into my bedroom, and run into the bathroom, before emptying about a gallon of my blood through my mouth, and into the toilet. Kip flips his shit, but I can't really understand what he's saying through the ringing in my ears.

"I'm fine Kip!" I snap at him, before stumbling my way over to the bed, and flop down on it. I throw the tiara off into a distant part of the room, my clothes turning back into the stupid school uniform. I stare at it for a minute, before getting back up and going into the princess' dresser, looking for something else to wear.

I pull out a blue tank top with a spiral decal, and a pair of blue shorts. I throw them on, then climb back into bed, and let the blackness consume me once again.

* * *

_". . .are you okay?!" Lucas freaks out, before he reaches over and starts patting my back as I throw up as much blood as my body thought was necessary._

_"Y-Yeah...I'm okay. Let's go in..." I hobble up the steps into the town hall, but stop and turn around, closing in on him._

_"You can't tell anyone about that, okay!? That's a secret, and if you tell anyone I will KILL YOU!" He nods rapidly, and I pull him inside._

_**It wasn't a very well-kept secret, now that I think about it.**_


	5. Chapter 2PR: The most lovely woman

I woke up to somebody pounding on the door downstairs. All the events from yesterday came rushing back into my mind, and I warily peeked over the covers to see if the gun was still there. Much to my chagrin, it was. I slowly made my way around it, and hurried to the door downstairs to answer the door. It was that Lucas boy from yesterday, and he seemed horribly flustered.

"Oh, hey Riki, I just came to see if Riet is home yet and... are you wearing the same clothes as yesterday?" I look down, and sure enough, I am. I slam the door in his face, run upstairs, change into something more pink, and go back downstairs. Lucas has already helped himself to walking inside.

"Thanks for slamming the door in my face. What are you even doing here? You're not usually home on the weekends."

I raise my eyebrow,"And Riet is?" That's not creepy at all. One girl is here when the other isn't.

He looks at me, suspicion clear in his eyes,"Yeah, don't you know that..? You always talk about how she's always out training during the week, and how that's why she's never at school."

"...Isn't she just playing hooky?" This remark seemed to really tick him off, his whole body was burning red.

"No! Riet isn't like that! She's just staying out of your way!" He then went off on a tangent about something about parents and stuff, but I zoned out.

Everyone's been talking about this Rietta, and I've seen her name on a couple of items, but I've yet to see her. Not only that, but who owns that gun? Why in the world would you keep that where you sleep? It makes no sense, unless you never sleep there...

"Are you even listening to me! Why did I even think you'd care, when you _**are**_ the source of all of Riet's problems!" He threw his arms in the air, before turning to leave.

"Wait! What do you mean?" I reach out to stop him, I really was starting to get interested in the three of them.

"None of your business!" He brushes me off, and slams the door behind him. I just stand there, wondering what to do. I assume there is no 'school' today, and it doesn't look like Riki had made any previous engagements for the weekend, despite Lucas saying that she was normally out and about during this time.

I walk back up towards my room, and I stare at the two dolls. So alike, but yet so different. I assume that the one with black hair and brown eyes is this 'Rietta' I've been hearing so much about. She really does look angry, even though it's just a doll. Considering she's on the left of the mirror, I find it safe to assume that the darker side of the room is hers, and the brighter side is Riki's. This would mean that the gun in the bed is Rietta's. It also explains **why** a gun would be in a bed, since Lucas said she's rarely home during the week.

Something is tugging at the back of my mind, but I can't quite tell what it is. A ringing sound echoes through the house, bringing me back to the current state. I run around the house until I find it, and I pick up the device it seems to radiate from.

"H-Hello?" I gasp, having been tired out from running everywhere. I hear a haughty snort from the other line.

"What took you so long to answer the damn phone, Rietta? Did you get sick, **again**? My god, you're so useless..." It sounds like a woman, but it doesn't sound like it's too pleasant of a woman.

"You better not have gotten sick on my floors or so help me...!" By now, I could tell that this woman was most likely Rietta and Riki's wonderful mother.

"No, no, I didn't! I'm just tired."

"What? How did you manage that? You haven't DONE anything!"

"I had to run and find the phone. I have something to do, so goodbye." I slam the device back to where I found it, and walk away.

Riet has it really hard.


	6. Chapter 3:Mirror Mirror

_A storm is brewing. The rain is pelting down with extreme force, and in the rain there is a small girl, whose hair and clothes cling to her body. She stands on top of a crate, peering into a window, watching two younger children dance happily, albeit clumsily._

_The girl clenches her teeth, and punches the wall of the building repeatedly._

_"It's not fair...!" The girl hisses, watching as the two take a break, and chat animatedly._

_"You...don't even..like dancing..." The girl erupts into hysteric sobs._

_**She's stolen my most important thing. Again.**_

* * *

My entire body jolts forward, and my stomach lurches forward, signaling that this course of action was not wanted. I jump out of bed, and leap into the bathroom. After I empty my body of even more blood, I wipe my mouth and walk out to see Kip flying around in a panic.

"Princess! Are you okay?!" He shrieks, grabbing my cheeks. I swat him away from me, and retrieve the tiara. I throw it on and walk over to the dance hall, forgetting all about breakfast.

The second I enter through the doors I'm assaulted by the ever-so-disgusting... now that I think about it, I never got his name.

"Princess Riki!" He squeezes me, which nearly makes me explode with rage, but I restrain myself. For the princess' sake. It wouldn't look too good if the princess gave a prince a facial scar.

"What is it?" I manage to work out after the much needed cooling down.

"Princess Riki, would you like to join me?" He gestured out towards the hall.

I knew what he meant, but since I'd rather die than dance with him...

"Join you for what? Cards? I should warn you... I'm really good at crazy eights." Kip whacks the back of my head.

"No! Not cards! He means dancing!"

Damn Kip.

"Oh...uh..." I struggle, not doing well with staying cool under his expectant stare.

"I'd rather play cards!" I boast, mentally kicking myself for not being as social as I should be.

"Cards? Boring. I'd rather dance with you."

"I'd rather not do that." I retort, making my way over to Tony. He turns to me, letting out a small smile.

"Shall we begin our lesson?" He offers me his hand. I nod, and we start practing the stupid Nocturne.

Of course, my steps are perfect. My timing is already starting to get back into shape, even though it's only my second day of "practice".

I wave goodbye to Tony, before rushing back to my room, throwing the tiara onto the bed, and repeating yesterdays bathroom activities.

After I get done, Kip barges into the bathroom, and starts making a huge commotion.

"Tomorrow we'll go take you to a doctor! This should not be happening just from dancing."

"It's not from dancing... I just need to get my medicine." I wash my face with a washcloth. I stare into the mirror, looking at my pale face, with the very noticable black eye. I have an extreme urge to punch the mirror, and I follow through without a second thought.

Kip lets out a small squeak of surprise as my fist collides with the glass. Without meaning to, my face breaks out into a giddy smile. I survey the damage on my fist, before nodding and looking at Kip, who flinches.

"Hey Kip, are there any bandages? I just had an accident." I gesture with my injured hand at the mess that used to be a mirror.

"Y-Yeah..." Kip goes under the sink, and pulls out various bandage wraps. I carefully pluck out each piece of glass with a pair of tweezers, brooding in my own thoughts. I hadn't done half bad, my hand would surely look like shit for at least a week.

But I deserve it.

"So, like I was saying... tomorrow we can go get you checked out... maybe get something while we're at it..." Kip mumbled nervously as he wrapped bandages around my hand in a mummy-ish manner.

"Like I said, I just have to get my medicine... and even in a place like this, I guarantee they have it." I sigh, just wanting to go to sleep. After a few more moments of contemplation, I decide to do just that. I throw myself backwards, lying down on the bathroom's carpet. I can hear Kip making a fuss, but I could care less.

Knowing that tonight won't be as lucky in dreamland, I shove my uninjured hand into my mouth, and clamp down on it with my teeth. It hurt, but it wasn't hard enough to break my skin.

I quickly fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 3PR: Mail Fraaaaud

I stole the name from my friend, it fitted them so well.

Also, I'm sorry for the delay~ BI

I had to go to my grandmas, and we went on evil beach adventures.

I even almost made my laptop explode, and all my files are on it, so it's great that didn't happen.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Today, I didn't feel like doing much. So, after I got dressed in a yellow shirt with a rabbit on it, and a blue skirt, I figured out how to use that black box in the room by the front door, so I watched it for a few hours. It's amazing! How do they get all those people in that tiny box? None of the animals talk though. That's weird, but maybe that's how our worlds differ. We have talking animals, and they have magic black boxes.

Anyway, after a few hours of watching the box, the door started ringing. This time I was certain that it was that Lucas boy again, so I opened the door cautiously, just in case he decided he was going to get violent this time.

Instead, it was some old guy with a white mustache carrying a blue bag. He raised his eyebrow at me, before handing me some white envelopes.

"Mail for the Rodericks." I thank him, close the door, and retreat back to the couch. After some sifting, I find one letter is for Riki, and two are for Rietta.

I open the one for Riki, and it says:

_To Riki,_

_ We heard you "got amnesia". This is probably another plot to win the affections of *our* Keith. You'll probably use the excuse to have him help you around...being all close and stuff, and then you just "happen" to remember only things related to him! You should stop coming to school, some of us are actually trying to get enrichment in our life._

_Happy Holidays_

..So many questionable items here. Who's Keith, and why do these people not want me near him (to the extent that they would actually send a letter with this thorough scenario)? Also, it's weird how after threatening me, they put a friendly ending to it. At least I know why school hasn't been a thing that was happening; it's some kind of holiday break.

I open the more official one for Rietta (since she's not here, it won't matter to her, right?):

_To Rietta Roderick,_

_ We, the school board, are concerned about your lack of school attendance in the past three years, but more worried with the complete disregard for school in the last few months. If you do not start attending school after winter break, we will be forced to contact your parents. We hope we will not have to resort to that, since you are a brilliant student, and your parents are rather...obscene._

_ Secondly, we regret to inform you that we've been hearing that your younger sibling, Riki Roderick, has been harrassed and beaten in numerous instances. The circumstances are unclear, but we will pursue the attackers. The school board will not tolerate one of its students being bullied!_

From here on it got really boring, it really only talked about how great they are, and how bullying is bad. Blah blah blah.

Finally, I open the last letter (it looks like it was written in a hurry), and several hundred dollar bills fall out. After I pick them up and stack them neatly, I read it:

_To my mistake,_

_Enclosed in this envelope is your monthly expenses. Buy whatever, die of some weird food-related disease, I don't care. Just don't get my house dirty. Also, we won't be home for the holidays this year. It's not that we can't, it's just that we don't want to be around you._

_Mom_

"Maaan, these two have got it tough." I sigh, before tossing the letters onto the ground.

What kind of parents don't visit for the holidays? Even if they couldn't make it, they didn't have to admit that...

One sister gets bullied by schoolmates, and the other one skips school constantly, but gets bullied by her own parents. The school letter thing even described them as "obscene", which makes me think they treat her like this in public places too.

...If I were Rietta, I think I'd keep a gun in my bed, too.


	8. Chapter 4: No athletic ability

_It's really cold here._

_It's cold, and it's wet, and I can hear the __**screaming**__- I really don't want to be here._

_I...Why am I here?_

_**It was for something important.**_

_But do I have anything like that?_

_**Not anymore.**_

_That's right... nothing to gain, and nothing to lose._

_**Divine punishment**_

* * *

I wake up to the taste of iron. The room moves around for a bit before I remember where I am.

Right. I'm still here, this is still reality.

I pull my hand out of my mouth, and inspect the damage. Nothing serious, not even mildly harming. It's barely a flesh wound. I rinse it off in the sink, and it stops bleeding.

As I'm turning off the nozzle, Kip bursts through the door, unexpectedly cheery.

"The traveling market is in town today~ Let's go shopping!"

"Yeah, sure. Lemme just get changed first." I brush past him, and go over to the wardrobe. Before I can get closer to it, I trip over something and smash my head against the door.

I let out a few curses before I turn to see what I tripped over. It's just my school uniform.

Nothing important... wait-

"OH FUCK!" I scream, scrambling for my skirt, and desperately look in all of my pockets (all two of them). I'm relieved to find my black pouch with rope around it to double as a necklace. I clutch it in my hand, and let out a huge sigh.

"Are you ready yet?"

"Oh... no. Hold on." I return back to my original task: getting dressed. I throw on a nice replica of the princesses' dress, but without the crappy tiara to transform with. I should leave that in here, since it's important. After tying the pouch around my neck, I turn back to Kip.

"'Kay, let's go Kip~"

We arrive in Samba Square, which has many brightly colored shops lining the streets. I'm starting to get really tired of all these bright colors, but there's nothing I can really do about it.

I let out a small sigh,"...There's a lot of shops here."

Kip seems to think this was a statement of amazement. He's truly the caretaker of the princess.

"isn't it fun~? The traveling market only comes once a season, so it's always busy! Try to stick close to me and not get lost."

I nod, and grab a hold of his tiny cape. He gives me a look, but I can tell he's not really bothered by it.

"Now, let's go into this store..." Kip leads me inside, and, much to my distaste, it's an accessory shop. Apparently, it's also the store for very ugly looking blonde chicks to work at, because we're soon approached by a blonde sales woman who looks like she could use a shower. Kip makes me take off my pouch and set it on the counter.

"Welcome~! We have lots of accessories to choose from!" I swear, I could hear her thinking 'buy something or get the fuck out of my store'.

I just stay behind Kip and remain quiet, letting him do all the talking. I'm happy to see the lady go away behind the counter. Maybe she decided to bless us and leave.

Sadly, it's not long before the ugly sales lady returns with three objects: a blue necklace with a seashell, a pink necklace made out of coral, and some very stupid looking ribbons.

"You can any one you like~" Kip chirps. I almost wonder if this is supposed to 'cheer me up', but then decide it's probably just so I'm not wearing the same stupid pink dress everyday for dance lessons.

Even though it looks repulsive, I take the coral necklace. Right after Kip pays for it, a pink haired, pigtails wearing girl barges into the store, fuming.

"HEY! I WAS GOING TO BUY THAT!" She screams at me. I blink, surprised by this brat.

"...Really?" Who would willingly buy this piece of plastic?

"Yes! I've been saving up my allowance for THREE WHOLE MONTHS!" The girl starts stomping, as if this is a big deal. I glance at the necklace, before offering it to her. I mean, it's not like *I* wanted it, I just chose the least crappy one of the three.

"Well, I could exchange it if you really want it... no big deal." I shrug. This seems to infuriate her even more.

"As if I'd want anything that you've had your dirty hands on!" She huffs, before running out of the store. I almost feel envious of how easily she was able to leave, entirely disregarding the way she just clearly insulted me.

". . .Did I do something to her?" I raise an eyebrow, and look at Kip, who's just sighing into his paw.

"No, no. That's just... how Isabel is. She says all sorts of mean things to everybody. She simply loves to cause people problems. You should just ignore her, she'll stop."

"...I see. I guess this world isn't so different from my world in that aspect."

After we finish shopping, I make Kip run into a flower store and order a huge bag of sunflower seeds. After having it arranged to be delivered to my room Kip insists that we take a short walk around the market.

Not even five minutes into our walk, I run into my worst enemy (aka Vince).

"Oh, hey! It's Riki! What are you doing here?" It takes all the self control I have to smile at him.

"Just...looking around, I guess. I'm a little lost though, it's been such a long time since the market was last here. It seems like it gets bigger every season." I babble on, and even though I'm completely lying, he seems to buy it.

My life choice of lying backfires on me. "Well, I can show you around!" Vince pipes up, before grabbing my wrist and dragging me off to god only knows where.

After awhile, he finally slows down.

"Where are we going?" He looks back and grins at me.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out!"

Why do I have the feeling he has no idea where we are?

Suddenly, we get hit by a not-so-gentle breeze from the ocean. The smell of sea salt almost makes me gag.

"...Are we by a beach?"

"Yeah," He then goes off onto another totally unrelated topic," Hey, that reminds me! I love tuna steaks! What kind of fish do you like, Riki?"

What a subtle way of telling a girl your favorite food, and then trying to figure out if she has the same tastes. I recall that Victor once told my sister that he really dislikes blowfish.

"Blowfish, I guess..." I trail off, trying to seem casual. My lie works this time, because Vince looks positively ill.

"Are you ok Vince?" I tilt my head, acting like I am not trying to get him away from me as soon as possible.

"No... I just ate some bad blowfish last week.." Hook, line, and sinker.

"Oh, really? Sorry for bringing up bad memories."

"No... it's ok. We'll talk about fish some other time." I internally cringe, and pray silently that we won't be having that talk... ever.

"Alright."

"Ugh..." Vince clutches his stomach, seeming more ill than I initially thought. Excellent.

"W-What's wrong?" Man, I'm glad my terrible mother forced me and my sister to go to acting lessons in my childhood.

"Just talking about it. . .My stomach. . .! Must...find...bathroom!" With that, Vince FINALLY leaves the general vicinity.

I walk around for awhile more, whistling a small tune that my sister used to sing.

Sadly, the gods of misfortune really hate me today, because I spot that one Carlos-looking guy hitting on a girl. It's unfortunate because after seeing me, he bids her farewell and walks over. I can feel the glares from here, and in the back of my mind I wonder how in the world he managed to actually get a fanbase. Maybe commoners just love princes to the point where ANY prince will do.

"Riki, baby! We meet again! Running into each other in a crowded market like this is surely destiny!"

Why are these princes so delusional?

"We should honor this moment with a good, tender embrace!"

"A... tender embrace...?" I shudder at the thought of this guy potentially using the opportunity to grope me. If he's anything like Carlos, he'd do it.

"No way, I was just lost... it's only a coincidence..." I mutter, before quickly escaping. I can hear him rambling something, but I can't make out the words. It's probably nothing important.

After spending even MORE time wandering around, I finally find my way back to the entrance where Kip is waiting for me. Not a patient wait either, he looks really panicked.

At the sight of me he grabs my wrist and drags me home, which is impressive for a creature his size.

After we walk inside, I decide to take a potentially nice nap. I reach to the back of my neck to take off the necklace... when it hits me.

I never picked my pouch back up.

"NOOOOOO! THAT STUPID LADY HAS PROBABLY ALREADY OPENED IT AND THREW IT AWAY!" I scream, startling the shit out of Kip.

"What?! What's the matter?!"

"I LOST MY POUCH! I LEFT IT ON THE COUNTER OF THAT STUPID STORE WITH THAT STUPID LADY THAT PROBABLY IS ACTUALLY A WHORE WHO RUNS THE PLACE FOR CRACK MONEY!"

"I... have no idea what you just said, but if you forgot something, we can just go back and get it." Kip takes my hand, and gently pats it.

"O-Ok." I sniffed, not even realizing I had been crying. I wiped the few tears that had escaped away.

I quickly changed into a lighter dress for easier movement (just in case that dumb broad HAD dumped it, and we had to search dumpsters), and we rushed back over to Samba Square.

* * *

"I'm sorry, but are you sure you didn't pick it back up? It was gone when you left." The girl gave us a fake worried look.

I sigh, and we leave the store.

"It's okay Princess, we can just look out here. Maybe you dropped it after we left?"

"Y-Yeah... I DID get lost, so maybe I dropped it..." I let out a deep breathe, and push up my sleeves before getting to work on looking.

After spending three hours looking all around the market, Kip and I flopped down on a bench, completely out of breath.

"Di-Did you... find it?" I wheezed.

"I can't-I can't find it anywhere!"

"Aaaaargh!" I groan, slamming my fist into the bench with my eyes closed, trying to remember where it could possibly be.

"You look like you're in a bit of a panic." My eyes fly open to see Kiefer. Kiefer's smart, right?

"We're looking for a small, black pouch with rope that's long enough to go around your neck, have you seen it!?" I speak fast, still exhausted from all my physical activity.

"...A black pouch?...Ah, yes. I think I saw something like that. A boorish girl with pink pigtails was holding it."

Kip turned red with anger,"Isabel! She took it!"

"Kiefer!" I shout loudly, startling Kiefer. I realize that it was probably unnecessary, but I am in a serious panic here.

"Will you help us look!?" His eyes widened, and he gave out a sigh, using his hand to push his bangs out of his face.

"Sorry, I can't. I have some very important business to attend to."

Tch, it would have been great to have an extra hand.

"Oh. It can't be helped, business is business. Thanks for telling us anyway!" I quickly hugged him before dashing off, but got held back by Kiefer.

"I-I didn't even tell you where she was! She was by Jive Park... anyway, good luck in your endeavor."

"Oh yeah! Thanks Kiefer!" I smile slightly before bolting off.

"Well that was nice of him."

Kip flies beside me, and passes me a grin,"Indeed... anyway, follow me to Jive Park!"

* * *

Luckily, Jive Park is practically right next door to Samba Square. Kip and I get right to work on looking for Isabel, but we couldn't find her.

"She's not here! She must have run off somewhere!"

I groan, sitting on the ledge of the park's fountain. "She could be anywhere!"

"Aren't you Riki? Are you okay?" I look up, to see that one Klaus guy. I quickly search the area to see his followers aren't around.

"Oh, Prince Klaus! Uh, in a way I suppose I am, but at the same time I'm not..." I quickly tell him the whole story, leaving out my opinion of the lovely store lady.

"That's terrible! Shall I help you look?" My eyes sparkle, and I grasp his hands in mine.

"Will you? That'd be a great help...!"

"No problem, I actually know my way around this kingdom quite well."

"Thank you so much...!" I give him an actual smile, enthralled that somebody is actually offering me assistance and going through with it.

"Let's start at Samba Square." Klaus drags me back over to the place, despite me just telling him that I already searched there.

Suddenly, I wonder if accepting his help was the best idea after all.

* * *

"Let's look for Isabel, she might have returned here."

After a bit of searching, we run into the ever-so-green Prince Liam.

"Hi, Riki. Oh, and Prince Klaus. Good afternoon to the two of you." He smiled.

"Ah, yes, good afternoon Prince Liam."

I decided to delve right into things,"Liam! We've got a big problem! Have you seen Isabel?!"

"Hm? Why? Did something happen?"

I quickly repeated my story.

"I see. I'm sorry, but I haven't seen her or your pouch."

"Oh..." I notice his bags of food. "Are you grocery shopping, Liam?"

"Yeah, I was just buying some vegetables. Carrots, potatoes, onions. . . Hey!" His outburst surprised Klaus and I.

"W-What?"

"The carrots are missing...!" Big deal, they're just carrots...

_Munch munch munch..._

I look down to see Kip... eating all of Liam's carrots.

"...Kip, isn't that a carrot you're eating?" Kip quickly eats all the carrots, not seeming to hear me.

"...He's already eaten all of them." Kip seemed to hear that, because he suddenly looked really guilty.

"How did this happen?!" He squeaked, even though it should have been obvious to him, since he did it...

"Oh, you ate them?" Liam looked down at Kip, making the creature flinch slightly, despite the fact that Liam was not showing any signs of hostility.

"I-I'm so sorry... I found these on the ground... and I love carrots..." Kip babbled.

"Well, that's fine. I'm just glad that you confessed to it, and that you liked them." He looked at me, and grinned. "At least we know Isabel didn't steal them."

Kip looked eternally grateful,"T-Thank you..."

"...Hm." I tapped my chin. This vaguely reminded me of something, but it quickly slipped from my mind.

"Riki, we don't have time for this!"

"..Oh! You're right! Bye Liam!"

He waved at us in a friendly manner,"You should try the beach. Good luck."

Kip thanked him again, and we left again.

* * *

We arrive at the beach, like Liam suggested.

Again, we looked everywhere for Isabel, but we ended up with squat.

Even worse, we spotted Vince. Prince Klaus, not knowing my secret hatred for Victor/Vince, called out to him.

"Hey, Vince!" Vince's head turned to us, and he quickly jogged over.

"Oh, hey guys. What are you two up to?"

I was getting tired of explaining, but I did it again, just for the sake of finding my pouch.

"Your pouch? That sounds terrible, it must be important!"

"Yeah, it is." I pause. "Hey, did you see Isabel at all?"

"A girl with pink pigtails?...Nope, sorry. Buuuut, you guys look like you're having a blast playing detective!" My insides started boiling. Of course he'd find a serious situation funny, he's just like that stupid, irresponsible Victor...!

"It's not fun! It's difficult! Don't be insensitive!" I spat at him, using only a tiny bit of my anger.

"Heh! Sorry. Well, if I see anything, you'll be the first to know!"

I take a second to cool down before I respond,"Thank you, Vince."

"Just leave it to me!" Vince grins and runs off. As always, I feel better once he's gone.

"Well, how about we look elsewhere?" Klaus gestures towards the castle area.

"Ah, yes. That sounds good."

We run as quick as we can over to the castle area, with me using my ballet experience to take long leaps to make up for my shorter legs and slower pace.

We quickly strike off the castle and my room, since that would be the worst places to go while you are carrying something you stole from the princess.

We decide the practice hall is our best option, and we burst through the door, and after one look we can tell that she's not there. We did manage to scare the shit out of the people who were practicing though.

Tony hops over to us at his leisure. "Why do you look so worried, Riki?"

I relay my story... again. This was starting to really grating my nerves.

"Ah. Isabel was here with it, but she left awhile ago. She always goes to Viennese Waltz lake after her lessons, maybe you should go look there."

We thank Tony and book it over to the forest area.

* * *

We arrive at Viennese Waltz Lake, and I nearly died just at the sheer resemblance of the lake. After a few minutes of looking, we find Prince Luciano (Luci, heh heh) by the lake, mumbling to himself. For once, he doesn't look grumpy.

"Isn't that Prince Luciano?" Klaus points at him. I resist the urge to roll my eyes and tell him way to go for stating the obvious.

"I wonder what he's doing." We get slightly closer, and we become able to actually understand what his stupid mumbling is.

"Ah... I love the ocean. It really calms the soul." Luciano takes a deep breath. It was kind of adorable that he was talking to himself.

"...Klaus, did you hear that?" I whisper to him.

"Yeah. He thinks he's at the ocean..."

"...This is a lake, right?"

"Yeah, it's a lake." I pause, before creeping forward and crouching down beside Luciano.

"Yeah, the ocean IS great, Luci!" He seems shocked that there was somebody there, then recognition spread across his face.

"...You're... Princess Riki, right? My name is not Luci, it's Luciano, but yeah, you're right! The ocean is great!" I grin.

"But... this ocean is strangely calm... almost like a lake, in fact..." How long has he been here? Long enough to see Isabel, I hope... but at the same time I hope not because that'd be sad that he STILL hasn't noticed this is a lake.

Kip popped up beside my ear and whispered quietly,"Princess, Prince Luciano is famous for his terrible sense of direction. He hates it when you point it out too..."

"Really? Just like Lucas." I hum. Then I notice that Luciano (and Klaus) is staring at me.

"So... did you want something?"

"Oh yeah... did you see a girl with pink pigtails? Kind of a huge brat?"

"Hmmmm..." He stared at me for a few minutes.

"...Did you or did you not?"

"I did."

"Where did she go?"

He shrugged,"I don't know."

I felt my face getting red with my growing anger.

He raised an eyebrow at me,"...but, she did say something about forgetting something in the Practice Hall."

I let out a sigh of relief. If Isabel went back, Tony was sure to stop her.

"Thanks, Luci. Let's go Klaus..." I struggle to get up, not having noticed that my exhaustion had caught up sooner than I had hoped it would.

I'm only able to take a few steps forward before I trip over a stupid rock (a god damned rock!) and land right on my face. There's an odd silence behind me, and it didn't sound like they were going to be helping me up, so I shakily got up myself, and wiped the dirt off my face.

I turned around and looked at Klaus,"C'mon, we might miss her."

Luciano looked slightly disturbed. He got up,"Are you ok? You don't look so good."

"What? No. I'm fine. I am f-i-n-e..." Neither of them looked convinced. They looked at each other, and seemed to have some telepathic connection of sorts, because then they each took a hold of one of my arms and lifted me up off the ground, my feet dangling. Then, without even letting me complain, we took off towards our, hopefully, final destination.

* * *

After bursting in, the boys set me down. Right at that moment, we see Isabel in a corner of the room, looking into the pouch. My entire body freezes, and it aches, but I still advance towards her quickly.

"HEY! ISABEL!" My choice of volume gets everybody's attention. Isabel's face gets paler with each second she looks at me.

"YOU DAMNED GIRL, GIVE THAT BACK!" My body must have been oozing out anger, because nobody wanted to be near me.

"W-What? This piece of junk? It's not even important!" She tosses it high into the air and escapes through a back door.

I yelp, and make a dive for it, just barely catching it before it hits the ground. I exhale the breath I had been holding, and start kissing my pouch. It's really all I can do, I've spent all my energy running around, and now I can't move.

After ten minutes of laying there, Luciano and Klaus seem to realize that no, I cannot get up.

Luciano walks over, and just picks me up like it's normal. I'm barely able to register that I am in the famous "princess hug", the room is starting to spin and darken. After some deep breathing, my vision clears up enough to notice that I'm outside, and I'm moving towards my room. I look up to see Luciano, who is looking at me, and it dawns on me that he probably asked me a question.

"What did you say? I couldn't really hear you." His eyes narrowed.

"I said, is this pouch really worth ruining your obviously poor health?"

Even though I feel slightly better, it takes a few moments for his words to really register in my head.

When they do, my face is burning mad.

"First of all, my health is perfectly FINE! And second of all, yes, this pouch is worth more than my life and I'd gladly die to keep it safe!" I snap. Neither seemed to be the right answer because he looked equally as angry.

"You're obviously **not** fine! You aren't able to move, you nearly passed out, and your hand is thickly bandaged, but it's still bleeding through! Why is your hand even bandaged?"

I had completely forgotten about my hand, and had even used it several times.

I shrink down, and tighten my grip around the pouch.

"That's not important, nor is it relevant."

"Fine then, how is a pouch worth more then your life?" He scowled at me.. but looking closer I realize he's actually scowling at my pouch.

"It's a life I was not able to save!" I hissed, before forcing myself to jump out of his hold and open my door that we had gotten to while we argued. Before he could follow me in, I slammed the door, and leaned against it.

The extra movement was not the right answer, because things started looking spotty again. I could hear Luciano pounding on the door, shouting something.

"GO AWAY LUCI, I AM NOT IN THE MOOD FOR THIS DISCUSSION AND I NEVER WILL BE!" I scream, my voice sounding... not my own. I crawl my way to bed, and yank a blanket and a pillow off of it. I make a blanket cocoon, and quickly fall asleep to the lullaby of Luciano's shouting and pounding.

* * *

_**"HOW ARE YOU THIS STUPID AND CARELESS?! IF YOU WERE EVEN A BIT MORE LIKE RIKI...!" **__A tall woman with long, brown hair shouts as she shakes her fist at her oldest daughter, who just sits on the couch with her eyes glazed over. On the table in front of her is a broken vase that had been extremely tedious to buy._

_Hiding by the stairs is the aforementioned daughter, who just peeks through the bars, watching her older sister get scolded. Riki wants to tell her mother that it wasn't her fault, that it was actually Riki who broke the vase, but her mother would never listen. She likes to blame Rietta for everything bad that happens._


	9. Chapter 4PR:Muffins

After all that letter stuff was done, I had fallen asleep from watching the box for countless hours.

When I woke up, I was starving! I trudged into the kitchen, and after some scouting, I emerged victorious: I found a container of double chocolate chip muffins! It only had one missing too, so this was an extremely lucky find.

When I poured myself a large glass of milk, I decide to take my spoils back out to the box area. While I feasted upon the deliciousness of muffins, I noticed there was a couple of stacks of black tapes, and each one had a label. Unfortunately for me, they were in a clear container with a lock, and I didn't have the key. Now that I think of it, those boxes I found a few days ago had locks on them as well. I guess Riki and Rietta really like locking stuff up.

Soon, I fell into a muffin-induced coma.

I had a nightmare about muffins beating me with several giant keys.


	10. Chapter 5: I hate Vince so much

_"Sissss! My kite got stuck in a tree!" Riki whines, mostly just hoping for her sister to pay attention to her. Rietta puts down her book on science with a sigh, and gets off the couch._

_"I'll go get it..." Riki's entire being starts glowing, and she drags her reluctant sister out back, where there's a small gathering of rather tall trees. Outside waiting is Lucas, who also is much happier once his eyes land on the older girl, but then he makes an angrier face._

_"Why'd you get Riet? She's wearing a skirt, how can she climb the tree?" He points at Rietta's rather long skirt._

_"It's fine, I'm wearing shorts underneath." Rietta pulls herself free of Riki, and, without any hesitation, yanks down her skirt, which does indeed reveal a pair of dark blue shorts. She looks up at the top of the trees, before her eyes zero in on the pink atrocity. It's a light pink kite, with princess crowns all over it. Very Riki-ish._

_With a grunt, Rietta starts climbing up the tree, and to the younger two she seems to be moving gracefully. Lucas looks over at Riki for a moment, but does a double take when he notices she's holding a video camera, and is filming Rietta. _

_Riki lets out a loud, girly squeal when Rietta reaches the top (it didn't take her that long), and yanks out the kite, before throwing it onto the ground below. Unfortunately, as she's going down something seems to have got caught, and Rietta loses her footing, making her fall all the way to the ground, get various scratches on her back._

_She lost consciousness on impact._

* * *

My eyes open slowly, and for a moment I'm shocked to see absolutely nothing, but then remember that I am in a blanket cocoon. I crawl out of it's husk, and it immediately collapses.

I get up and stretch, before looking around for Kip.

He doesn't seem to be around. Odd.

"Whatever, I'll just go without him..." I mutter, getting back into my habit of talking to myself as I get dressed.

I use to do this frequently enough as a child that others were convinced I had a psychological problem of some sort, which made my parents powerfully angry with me.

As I walk over, I hum a little tune, being in a better mood now that I have my pouch. After I open the door to the Practice Hall, however, I can sense that this day is not going to be a good one.

"Hey Riki! What's up?!" Vince chirps as he walks over.

"...Hi Vince-" I begin, but he interrupts me, _of course_.

"Well, I had some free time so I thought I'd stop by and see how your dancing's going."

Dancing, hm? That's a simple topic, even for me.

"It's rather easy..." I look down, not wanting to see him.

"Wow! You're pretty confident! Care to put your money where your mouth is?"

My head snaps up, and I raise an eyebrow at him, "What?"

He laughs, "I'm trying to see if I can test your skills!"

Dancing with Vince is really the last thing I want, so of course my reply is: "I think I'll pass, I don't really need to 'test' my skills, I need to focus on refining them."

With this, I turn and walk over to Tony, leaving the stupid prince behind.

Even though it's only my third day of dancing, but I already feel much better about it. When our practice is over, Kip shows up with a small container. He floats straight over to me, and hands it to me.

"It's the medicine you told me to get yesterday." My eyes light up, and I pop all the sunflower seeds into my mouth at once.

Yes, my medicine is sunflower seeds. They are delicious, and very calming.

"..Well, Princess, shall we explore today? You have quite a bit of time before bed, and if you're feeling up to it now..."

I rack my brain for a place to explore, before I remember that lake that Luci was at yesterday. What was the name of it? Vietnamese Lake? No, that's not it. Close enough though.

"What about Vietnamese Lake?" Kip looks at me like I'm stupid.

"You mean Viennese Waltz Lake?" I nod. "Ok then, follow me~"

* * *

"Yep, this is it~" Kip chirps, and I let out a small sigh of content at the peaceful sight. It looks just like the lake my sister, Lucas, and I would frequent in the summer.

My stomach starts to cramp up at the thoughts of the lake...

_Nonononononono._

_It's fine._

_Everything's just fine._

"It's Prince Cesar!" Kip's squeaking brings me back, and he's pointing at that one purple haired flirt. At least I finally know his name without having to ask anyone and looking like an imbecile.

"Let's ignore him and go home, I'm already tired..." I mumble, before turning back the way we came.

"Oh-But-!" Kip whined before turning back around and following me.

Once we get back to my room, I stare at the bare flower beds. It occurs to me that if I plant sunflowers here, it'll be like I've left a part of me when I have to leave at the end of the month.

I quickly get to work, not minding Kip's fuss-budgeting in the background about how "dirt doesn't suit royalty", which shouldn't really matter since I am not actually the princess.

Afterwords, I soak in a nice hot bath, and quickly jump into bed.

I look forward to the next day...


	11. Chapter 6: A day of misfortune

As soon as I woke up, I quickly got dressed, water my darling sunflowers, and left for dance practice.

I open the doors, and I guess I'm really obvious, because the first thing Tony says is "You seem to be in good spirits today!"

I give Tony a slight nod before we begin our practice.

Even though Tony praised my dancing skills, I am not even close to being satisfied. It has already been three days, why am I not back into my rhythm yet? Right as I'm leaving he tells me he's looking forward to my dancing tomorrow.

Of course he would be though, I mean, who else am I going to practice with...? I mull over these thoughts as I eat a few sunflower seeds.

A certain person came to mind, but I had to quickly shove their face out of my mind.

_**No, Riki.**_

_**That is a taboo subject and you know it.**_

To get it out of my mind, I decide to go walk around in Jive Park.

Right as I step foot into the park, I catch sight of Liam. I guess he saw me too, because he waved and walked over towards me.

"Hello Riki. You seem to be in a good mood today." He smiled politely at me. I can't help but give him a small smile in return.

"To be honest, I just planted some sunflowers yesterday... and it's pretty great. I really love sunflowers." I gushed, not even paying attention to the fact that I was ignoring my "cool princess" rule. Sunflowers are worth breaking the rules.

"...So, what are you up to Liam?" I cough, after recovering from my sunflower fangirling.

"I thought I'd take a walk. How about you, Riki?"

"Well, it IS a nice day for walking."

"We must have the same frequency...I know, why don't we walk together?"

I had a small paranoid feeling that this was his way of asking me out, but it was probably just my paranoia. It tends to fuck with my thought process.

"Sure."

"Excellent. It really is a wonderful day for a walk in the park."

After some walking, all my nerves shut down, making me realize again that I am not in as good a shape as I used to be.

"The breeze feels good, doesn't it?" Liam smiles, seemingly oblivious to the one of my many health issues that I am suffering from at the moment.

"Y-Yeah..." I pant heavily, leaning against a bench for major support. This seems to alert Liam that I am feeling like shit right now and cannot move another inch.

"Would you like to sit down on the bench?"

I try to not seem so eager and desperate,"S-Sure!"

I plop down onto the bench, and Liam takes a seat beside me.

After quite a period of silence, Liam breaks it,"So, what kind of things do you like, Riki?"

This catches me off guard, as I was nearly falling asleep on the bench. Or passing out, whichever you may choose.

I scrunch up my eyebrows, trying to get my thoughts back into a comprehensible language.

"Mmm... I'd have to say dancing, I suppose." Liam perked right up.

"Oh? Me too. When I'm on the dance floor, it's like I'm weightless."

"Indeed, it makes all your troubles disappear."

We talk about dancing for quite a while, but we eventually go our separate ways. Liam going wherever it is Liams go, and with me continuing on my pathetic walk.

After some more walking, I end up in Samba Square. It seems to be even busier than usual, which means the Traveling Market is in town today.

I just do some window browsing, but I come across the Accessory Shop. Wanting to see if that crack addict had been fired yet for some unknown reason, I walk inside.

After I get inside though, Kip gets all pissy with me and starts ranting about how he'll get me more accessories when I 'show more improvement on my dancing'. I wanted to strangle him.

Even worse, that stupid whore was still there.

To relieve my newly aqquired stress, I decided to revisit Viennese Lake.

All my hopes of relieving that stress went straight out the window and landed into a bucket of gasoline that a street bum had set on fire because he was blind and couldn't find his cigarette.

"HEY RIKI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" I could hear Vince's voice booming in my ears, even though I knew he was actually down the shore, and he was speaking in a normal tone. My ears are sensitive to scumbags.

"J-Just taking a walk. Relieving daily tensions and the like..."

"Hey, just like me!" He laughed. I quietly prayed with my fingers crossed behind my back that he wouldn't ask me to-

"Let's take a walk together!"

Fuck.

I struggle internally with my inner hatred for Vince/Victor/all things scum, and my need to get in better shape.

Just for today, my sense of athleticism won.

"Okay, sure." It can't be that bad, right? It's just a walk...

As we walk along the shore, I notice that you can see the sky much better here... and it seems to be an even nicer shade of blue.

"Hey! Let's go boating on the lake!"

This one innocent phrase sent shivers down my spine, and made my blood freeze over.

_**"Sissy! I'm going out to swim in the lake with my friend, okay? I'll be back later!"**_

My mind started sputtering as it slowly shut down.

Apparently Vince took my stone cold silence as a "yes that is a swell idea", because he started tugging me towards an abandoned boat, which I assume is his.

Before I knew it we were in the middle of the lake, the worst place to be.

Vince made a weird attempt to break the silence by saying "Hey! A bird!" as he pointed out in the distance.

I was really desperate to find a distraction, so I ignored all my previous Vince hatred and looked.

This was my worst decision of that day.

The second I leaned over to look, Vince started rocking the boat, like the jackass he is.

Of course, the unfortunate me goes toppling out of the boat, and into the trauma infested waters.

I struggle to stay at the surface as Vince shakes from laughing.

"Pfffft! You actually fell in!"

I wasn't even able to reply, it was taking all my sadly short stamina to stay afloat. All that came out of my mouth was water and hatred.

Quickly, my energy depleted itself, and I started sinking. I was sinking fast too, because of the stupid dress I was wearing.

I started coughing violently, losing all my valuable oxygen under the water pressure. God damn, this lake was deep! My sight was starting to get fuzzy around the edges, and all I could think about was the accident as my consciousness slipped.

* * *

_A girl's body was at the bottom of the lake, and she knew she'd drown soon. If only she had remembered that she had absolutely no athletic ability. She looks up at the surface for one last look at sunlight, but it's blocked by the figure swimming at her as quick as they can._

_The black hair._

_The incredibly angry brown eyes._

**". . .ki"**

_The figure was staring directly at her, and the girl smiled a tired smile and the figure grabbed her arm and dragged her to the surface._

**"Riki"**

_She knew that afterwards, she'd be getting chewed out for hours, or maybe be ignored (which would be inarguably worse), but she was so tired. The girl's eyes closed as she listens to the rapid heartbeat of her savior._

_It was almost like a lullaby._

* * *

I felt like I was being shaked rapidly, but that was impossible, because I died at the bottom of the lake.

"HEY RIKI WAKE YOU'RE ASS UP!" I heard a familiar voice. They sounded really pissed off.

Is this real. . .?

I open one eye, just to see if I was dreaming or hallucinating.

"...Sis...?"

"THANK THE STARS ABOVE!" Kip attacked my face with a hug.

"Hey, stop that! Last thing she needs is to be suffocation." A hand grabs Kip and takes him away, revealing that the hand belongs to Luciano.

...Was Luciano even here before? I don't really remember if he was, but I'm pretty sure the reason I nearly died was the devil reincarnate.

"Sheesh! Everytime I see you you're either fainting, or immobilized. Are you really sure you can dance?"

I try to open my mouth to speak, but all that comes out is lake water.

Reality crashes down on me.

I'm alive, this is not another one of my dreams.

I did not drown.

Tears start rolling down my cheeks, and I realize that I am going insane.

Luciano's tirade comes to an abrupt halt when he noticed that I am having a fucking meltdown right now.

"..H-Hey! Get yourself together! S-stop crying!" Luciano's face burns red as he starts fidgeting around, not knowing what to do.

"Oh hey! You got her awake! I got the blanket!" At the mention of the word blanket, I become acutely aware that I am in a dress that is very, very drenched, and that the wind has decided to be an asshole and pick up. Vince wraps the blanket around me, and the two of them just stood there.

"What are you doing?! We need to get her back to her room to take a bath before she catches a cold!" Kip struggles free of Luciano's grasp, and sticks himself between my shoulder and the blanket.

"...Am I right in assuming you can't walk?" Luciano sighs.

I sniff, and raise up my arms,"Carry me?"

He looks at me, then at Vince. The weird look on Vince's face seems to satisfy him, because he complies with my wishes and picks me up bridal style.

Luciano lets out a grunt as he shifts around, before walking back to my little room.

"I know you probably won't answer me, but are you sure there's not something wrong with you? Illness, injury, what is it?"

Weirdly, this strikes me as funny, and I start laughing really loudly. "I-I guess so!"

Luciano's face heats up as he scowls down at me,"What are you laughing at?!"

I try to settle down enough to talk normally, but it doesn't work, so I just squeak out words inbetween my fits. "I-I have no idea-Sorry!-I c-can't s-stop!"

Luciano looks at me weirdly, but says nothing.

We continue on like this until we reach my room...mini-house...thing.

Kip unlocks the door and Luciano walks in. He takes one look at my mess, and gives a slight smirk.

"It looks even worse than the last time I was here."

"...What...? When did you come in here?"

He disregards my question, and heads straight for the bathroom. After getting inside he sets me down on the carpet, he takes the blanket away from me. As he's rolling it up and throwing it out the door to Kip, he notices that my mirror is no longer a thing that exists.

"...What happened to your mirror?" I quickly hide my hand

"...Nothing. Hey, Luci?" He turns around, "Get out."

Luciano looks at me, confused. "What?"

I stare at him before gesturing to the bathtub, and tell him slowly, "I can't bathe with you standing there. Get out."

This time, his entire body heats up, and I swear steam is coming off of his body.

"O-oh yeah! Ok then, I'll just leave... don't catch a cold..." He runs out the door.

I slowly get up and close the bathroom door, locking it. I pause for a few moments, before quickly taking off my wet dress, letting it fall to the ground with a wet 'plop'. I walk over to the spot where the mirror used to be, and start reaching for my eye, before remembering that it's not there because I smashed it. I smack my forehead, and crouch down. I start going through the bathroom sink's cupboard, looking for a smaller one.

"C'mon Princess... you should have at least ONE more..." It'd be JUST my luck to be substituting for the ONE princess who only has one mirror.

After a few more frustrating moments of searching, I emerge victorious! I take out the smallish hand mirror.

It'll have to do, I guess. I hold it up to my face as I reach back up to my eye, and take out both of my contacts. I set them down gently on top of the mirror before pulling my hair back into a small ponytail. After it's all set, I soak in the warm bath Kip prepared for me.

...Maybe being a princess isn't that bad after all.


	12. Chapter 7: I chose Capricorn

_I open my eyes, and there's nothing but black water here. I try to swim up, but my arms and legs are pulled down from the chains that keep me imprisoned at the bottom of this black abyss._

_I cannot see a single thing, and air is running out._

_Nobody is going to be coming for me this time._

* * *

"Princess! How long are you going to sleep?!" Kip smacks me right on the forehead with some kind of cheese scepter, immediately jolting me awake.

Kip tries to drag me out of bed, and succeeds (but only because I'm too out of it to resist). Sadly, he can't keep me up after I'm out of the covers, and I fall flat on my face into the rug, and shiver from the sudden cold air.

"Hey! Wake up and stop fooling around! The first dance competition is today! You've got to do your best!"

I vaguely remember somebody saying something about a dance competition being today, and I get up and change into my stupid coral necklace dress.

"You water my flowers, and I'll go on ahead." I hand Kip the watering bucket as I take a pouch of sunflower seeds. I look back at my precious pouch, which I put on a mini pedestal that goes on the dresser, and grin before heading out.

* * *

When I get inside the Dance Hall, I notice that it's really decked out, and is quite impressive. It looks better than all the other ones I've seen. I guess royalty really knows how to decorate (or they pay top dollar and get smothered in so much high class junk they just throw it anywhere).

"This is a nice turnout. Then again, it's only royalty that's competing, so it's to be expected that admirers and fans would show up." I nod, speaking quietly out loud to myself.

"That's right, darling! We're all here to dance our hearts out for our supporters." I notice that Cesar is standing in front of me now, but only because purple hair can only belong to a selected number of freaks.

"I'm sorry to say that I'm already partners with the princess of the Walnut kingdom, so even though I'd love to dance with you, I can't." He did a bunch of dramatic poses during this, and he looked kind of like a clown.

"I wasn't planning on dancing with you anyway." I pat his shoulder and walk away. This was not the best course of action, and it seemed to make fate hate my guts, because I ran into my worst enemy. He looked a little bit sad, which pleased me greatly, but because 'Princess Riki' has no real reason for hating him (besides almost drowning her), I tried to play the role of the supportive acquaintance.

"What's wrong, Vince?" He looked up at me, surprised to see me here apparently, but quickly reverts back to his sad state.

"Oh, hey, Riki. I couldn't find a partner, so they won't let me register in the competition, which sucks, because I was really looking forward to it." I could feel a certain 'will you please partner with me' vibe coming from him, but I decided to pretend that I didn't notice.

"Well, there's always next time, it's not like dancing competitions are rare events." This seemed to make him think for a moment, before he grinned at me.

"You know what? You're right! I can even use this time to practice so that I'm even better by the next competition! Thanks Riki!" Vince shook both my hands before he ran off somewhere, and I felt the rush of relief I get when he's gone after an encounter.

I look around, and I see Liam sitting in the audience. This strikes me as odd, because he was just talking to me yesterday about how much he loves dancing.

I approach him, and ask him why he's not getting ready to compete.

He smiles,"Oh, I'd love to compete, but my dance partner's in the hospital right now. It's ok though, it's still exciting to watch the dancers."

I frown, and shake my head. "Mmm... I don't think so. I'd hate to just sit around and watch, when I could be dancing instead."

Liam chuckles,"You must really love dancing. Well, good luck."

I smile, and wave as I walk off. You just can't hate the guy, he's so friendly.

As I walk around some more, I find Kip looking around. I pull his cape over his eyes, just for fun.

"What the-princess! Did you find a partner yet?" I stare him right in his eyes.

"Nope, I didn't like any of them. Dancing-wise, I mean." Although I did reject two of them just because I hate/fear them.

"Oh, this is a disaster!" This vaguely reminded me of that one show that was on when my sister and I were younger. What was it? I don't remember, but I do remember that she'd always insist on sitting on my lap during the show, and her head cut off half the screen, so I was never able to see the opening title. I laugh under my breath, so that nobody thinks I'm more insane then I already am.

"Stop laughing! This is serious!" This also reminded me of another kid show, but I KNOW this one was called 'Wonder Pets', because they'd sing it at least twice every episode.

"I know, sorry. What should we do?"

Kip sighs,"I guess we'll have to ask Tony."

I kind of regret not getting one now.

* * *

Of course, Tony is in the Practice Hall. I wonder if he lives here.

"Tony! Could you please partner with the Princess, just for this competition?" Kip elbows me in the cheek, apparently wanting me to ask as well.

"If it's not a bother, could you, please?"

"You couldn't find a partner?" He seems shocked, and I remember how he was constantly telling me that I was almost perfect (which I am, but he doesn't know that).

I shake my head, and he nods. "Ok, I'll be your partner just for today."

"Thank you! Princess, you thank him, too!" Kip makes me bow.

"Thanks Tony, I'll do better..."

* * *

"Yesss! We made it back in time!"

I give Kip a look. "I was never worried."

Right before the competition starts, Klaus and some blonde girl walk up to me, holding hands.

"Hey, Riki. You're entering the competition as well?" Klaus smiles, and I seriously begin to wonder if he has brain damage. Why would I be on the dance floor if I wasn't competing?

Nontheless, I answer."Yeah."

The girl does not seem to like how friendly Klaus is to me, because she cuts in and shakes my hand, squeezing it harder than truly necessary.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Cynthia, princess of the Marine Kingdom!" She looked really happy, but I could already tell we would not become friends. Pity, because I think that 'Marine Kingdom' sounds like a pretty place.

"I'm Riki, and the pleasure is mine." Might as well be polite, maybe it'll make her change her ways. I doubt it, but maybe.

"Did you happen to see us dance at your dinner party? How were we?" Cynthia flashed me a smile, apparently trying to convey that they are good. Flattering her ego might do me some good, and maybe she'll get off my case. Not like I'd know, since I never made it to that point of the party.

"You were spectacular! I was spellbound." I return the smile. Cynthia seems to be pleasantly shocked at my (seeming to be) sincerity, because her face turns red. She must be easily flattered.

This also pleases dumb broad Klaus. "Thank you, Riki. You're too kind."

"Let's do our best today, Riki!" Cynthia grips my hand tighter, but this time it's not out of spite... I think.

"...Of course. Good luck to you two." Cynthia seems to disregard my verbal attempt to leave, and drags me over to watch the beginning with her and must look really awkward to everyone, one girl holding both a girl's hand, and a boy's hand. Didn't really bother me, since my sister used to constantly cling to me.

I was not even able to really watch the dancers, I was too busy going over the routine in my head. I only came to when Cynthia was telling me 'good luck' as Kip pulled me over to where Tony was.

Tony seemed to think I was nervous, because he patted my shoulder. "It'll be okay. Just have fun."

During our dance, my vision started getting kind of blurry, despite me eating a few sunflower seeds before I came in. Luckily, my mind has no control over anything, and my body remembered all the movements by themselves. Tony seemed to think we did pretty well, and said we didn't miss a single step.

After everyone had finished, this weird looking guy walked up to the mic, and started announcing in the way a wrestling MC would.

"The wait is over! Here is our winner!" He took the note out of an envelope that I hadn't notice.

"And the winner is..." He paused, in that stupid way all the announcers do.

"Riki and Tony!" Everyone started applauding, and Cynthia squeezed me really tight. I might end up disliking her after all.

Before I knew it, the whole hall was cleared out, and I was sitting on the steps to the stage. I had the winner's prize in one hand, and a cup of water in the other. Kip had told me to drink all of it, because I 'don't look too good'.

Suddenly the room seems dimmer, and I look up and see Luciano.

"Nice work out there."

"...Since when were you here, Luci?" I raise an eyebrow as I take another drink of water.

"I was here the whole time, I'm a guest." Ahh, no wonder I didn't see him beforehand.

Kip suddenly appears, and whispers into my ear. "Prince Luciano was last competition's big winner!"

This does not surprise me, since Lucas was a good dancer, and I suppose that doubles share traits.

"How come you didn't enter the competition?"

Luciano sighs, and runs a hand through his hair. "I quit dancing, so I probably won't be around much."

"...Mmm. I quit dancing a while back too, but I decided to get back into it."

Luciano looked surprised, and I remember that the princess had told me that she was a shitty dancer. I really hope nobody else knew that.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but it's been a long time, so I did everything wrong. To be honest, I can't even remember what was happening during the dance because my vision went down the shitter." I realize that I should probably speak more princess like, but I was never made for it, and it's just Luciano.

"Well, if you're not satisfied, do better! If you just sit around, you won't get any better!" Luciano got heated up, and he looked so funny, I choked on my water. This alarmed both Luciano, and Kip, seeing as I nearly drowned just yesterday. Luciano grabbed both my hands and held my arms over my head as Kip patted my back.

"Christ! What's so funny that you'll die from it?"

"It's because you're still passionate about dancing." It was supposed to just be a normal comment, but Luciano's face got all flushed over it.

"Of course! I've been dancing all my life!"

"Except for now, but that could change at any time, if you want."

A short silence fell upon the three of us, but only I was calm. Luciano seemed to be suspicious, and Kip looked like he was scheming something and flew off, saying something about 'getting me more water'.

It didn't look like Luciano was going to be speaking anytime soon, but before I could say anything, he spoke up.

"Are you trying to ask me out?"

"You stupid shit, I was asking if you wouldn't mind being my dance partner."

"...Why should I do that?"

"Because I have to be the best, and I think that if it's you, I can achieve that goal."

"You want to be the best that badly? I'm warning you, I'm really strict when it comes to dancing!"

I grin,"Bring it on."

He stares at me for several minutes, before sighing. Luciano seems to sigh a lot (not that I'm one to talk). "...All right. We're partners. We'll start practicing tomorrow, because right now you look terrible. Get some rest, and I'll be waiting at the Practice Hall tomorrow. You better show up!"

With that, I was forcibly escorted home by Luciano, and forced to go to bed early.

Today I had no dreams, and no dreams is good dreams.


	13. Chapter 7PR:This grammar makes me cry

For the past few days I've been looking for the many keys that could unlock all the stuff lying around the house, but I've been unsuccessful thus far. The only place I hadn't checked yet was the girls' bedroom, which, in hindsight, is probably where I should have looked first.

I open the door to the bedroom, and look around.

_If I was a pair of girls, where would I hide a shit load of keys?_

_Or maybe it's just one key, and that key opens all the locks? That'd be more practical, in my opinion._

I digress, where would it be?

I dig through Riki's dresser, I don't find anything... until I notice a small outline of an opening in the bottom of the dresser. I tap on it, and it sounds different from the other places around it.

_Jackpot!_

I use my finely manicured nails to open the lid, and inside is a box that is almost the exact size of the opening. It must only be slightly smaller for easy retrieving and returning. I pull it out, and it slips out of my grasp, being way heavier than I thought.

"Shit!" I curse as it lands on my foot. It hurts worse then the time when Kip had me practice running 5km in high heels... without breaking them.

After I push the box off my foot, and rub it for several minutes, I pull the lid off the box, and a bunch of letters overflow. The letters are all light pink, and are decorated with several different shapes of hearts and sparkle stickers.

I pick one up, and it's much heavier than a letter should be. There must be so much writing _in it!_

_What would be in here, and if it's so important, why didn't she just mail them?_

I take all of the letters out of the box, and at the bottom of it is three tiny boxes.

I open up the first one, but there's nothing in it. _Riki must have it._

I open the second box, which is slightly bigger, and inside of it is a charm bracelet with two tiny versions of Rietta and Riki, with a tiny heart between them.

_...Ok, that is slightly creepy, but whatever._

I decide to save the last box until after I read some of these letters, because the curiosity is killing me. Even though I **know** I shouldn't snoop, these are obviously love letters.

I open up one, and several medium sized pages fall out. I pick them all up, and I notice that each one has the number one, followed by a letter. They seem to go in order of the alphabet, so I put them all in the correct order. I look back at the envelope, and in the margin is a small, slightly faded scribble of the number one. I look around the pile of envelopes, and, sure enough, there's an envelope with the number two on it. I keep going on like this, organizing the envelopes in order until I have all twenty of them lined up.

"Okay... now, let's start back at the beginning..." I take out page number 1A, and skim the contents, before snapping for a double look.

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX, 1A**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**Mommy brought me to a diferent house today. It's a large house, but it's really scary. She said that because she and Daddy are busy, I have to stay here with "that creepy child". I was really scared, because Mommy kep telling me all these really scary stories about how horible this thing is. Mommy nocked on the door, and a really nice lady with black hair opened the door. She greeted Mommy, and seemed really happy to see me, saying that the girl was doing fine, and that she was out back playing with her son. Right after she finished saying that, we heard a door slam open and a little boy with similar black hair came into the room, shouting for his mom to come quick, because Riet was bleeding. The lady rushed right past him, and the boy was about to follow, but he saw me, and looked at me weirdly. After a moment he shook his head, and dragged me outside too.**_

_**On the ground was a really pretty girl with long black hair, and brown eyes that looked angry at the lady for being so pushy. The boy let go of my hand and ran over to her, putting her arm around his shoulder, trying to help her in. She seemed greatful, and as they were getting closer, she looked up and saw me. She let go of the boy, and staggered towards me, looking at me reaaaaally hard. She was reaching out to touch me, but Mommy came out and slapped her right to the ground, yelling for her to not lay her filthy hands on me.**_

_**I didn't really pay attention to what happened after that, I was just staring at the pretty girl, who just was just laying on the ground, and didn't look like she was going to get up anytime soon.**_

_**Is this the monster Mommy talked about?**_

* * *

_The "pretty girl" is obviously Rietta, and the boy is probably Lucas. The mother is even more out of hand then I thought!_ I switch to page 1B to continue reading.

* * *

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX, 1B**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**Mommy left yesterday, after getting into a big arguement with the nice lady. I have to sleep in the same room as the girl, but she doesn't even talk to me. She just sits there on the floor, staring at the wall, which was really bland and bare. There is absolutlee nothing on any of the walls, and the only things inside the room are the two beds and a dresser. I'll try saying something to her.**_

_**I'm back. I asked her why the walls were so blank, and all she did was stare at me. She doesn't need to be so-**_

_**Wait. She just told me that it's because she "doesn't need such childish decorashuns". I have no idea what she means, Mommy said my bunny drawings that I have in my other bedroom were really cute! I'll just have to decorate this room myself!**_

_**P.S.**_

_**There was a thunderstorm! It was really dark and scary. I snuck into the girl's bed because I was too scared to sleep by myself. I'm sure she didn't mind.**_

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX, 1C**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**This morning, when I went downstairs, the nice lady, who I will now call Aunty, was making eggs. The girl and the boy were seated at a small table, and the boy was trying to talk to her, but it didn't look like she was going to speak. She looked really angry. Maybe she was angry at me for sleeping in her bed? The boy said his name was Lucas, and that the girl's name was Riet. I tried to reech and shake Riet's hand, but I wasn't able to reach. She also wasn't cuuperating. What a meany! **_

_**After brekfast, the two of them played out back again. I wasn't alowed to, Aunty said I have to put all my books in my room.**_

* * *

The childish scrawl of Riki's handwriting made me very tired, and I fell asleep on top of all the papers and envelopes.


	14. Chapter 7PR2: I get guilt trips easily

When I woke up, I got some more of those muffins and ate them as I read more of these papers (which are actually diary pages).

* * *

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX, 1D**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**I've been here for a few weeks, and the whole time, Rietta has not spoken, smiled, or laughed. I've been wondering if that's just a condishun of hers, or if it's my fault. I'm going to go ask her, she's out in the living room right now on the phone with Mommy.**_

_**I'm back, I didn't get to ask her. She wasn't even speaking, but I could hear Mommy's yelling all the way from the stairs. After ten minutes of silens, Rietta said "Ok, Mother." and hung up.**_

_**Isn't Aunty her mother? Mommy and Daddy both have brown hair and green eyes, so there's no way we're related.**_

_**Wait, hold on. Rietta's coming in. **_

_**Oh, all she came in here for was to ask if I wanted to go get icecream with her and Lucas.**_

_**I'm totally going! Be back later!**_

_**P.S.**_

_**Rietta and I have the same taste in icecream! We both love chocolate icecream, unlike stupid Lucas, who likes cherry flavored.**_

* * *

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX, 1E**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**School started today. It's my first day of first grade!It turns out Lucas and I are the same age, because we have the same teacher. This is surprizing, sens I thought he was the same age as Rietta. Rietta walked us to class, and all the little kids stared at her, because she is much taller than all of them. After that, some guy with silver hair and glasses came up and Rietta left with him. Lucas was really moody after she left.**_

* * *

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX, 1F**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**The guy I talked about last time just came over. His names Keith, and he is Rietta's classmate. They're working on homework in the kitchen right now, because Lucas is sulking in the living room. **_

_**I've finally finished decorating my half of the room with drawings of princesses, bunnies, and rainbows. Rietta says they look like "shit". I have a feeling I'm not supposed to say that word, so I'll just write it in here.**_

_**I'm going to go practice my drawing until even Rietta is impresseed!**_

* * *

"Rietta is really cruel, even as a kid." I click my tongue.

* * *

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX, 1F**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**Today was our open house! I made a really pretty picture of Rietta and I as princesses. Mommy and Daddy weren't able to come, but (gasp!) Rietta came instead. She took one look at my drawing, then she ignored it and went to talk to my teacher.**_

_**I feel like I've failed somehow, even though my spelling has gotten much better.**_

* * *

This is where "Part 1" of the envelopes ends. I decide that it's late enough, so I just leave them all on the floor and go to bed.


	15. Chapter 8: Riki is the leadingest leader

"Princess! Today is when the Flower Expo opens!" Kip wakes me up with another one of his stupid day announcements. They've had a bunch of events just in this week. At least it finally has something to do with flowers, I suppose. This being the FLOWER kingdom, and all.

"So? Expos are usually open for a few days, and I promised Luci that I'd be at practice today." Kip clasps his hands together, his eyes sparkling in some weird anime fashion.

"Ohhh~! I'm so happy that SOMEBODY'S finally serious about dancing!" He let out a few tears before flying off sobbing, and I felt really bad for him. He's worked so hard, and then the princess just decides to blow everything off and change places with a double. What was she going to do if I was a shitty dancer, too?

_Oh well, not my problem._

I walk over to the Practice Hall, and look inside. Luciano isn't here yet, so it's safe to assume that he's lost. I guess that walking around and looking for him would help, but staying here is also a good option...

"What are you doing out here?" The sound of Luciano's angry voice gets my attention, and I look up, to see his delightful scowl.

"I was waiting for you, did you get lost again?" His face turns red as he tries to look angry, but doesn't quite make it.

"D-Don't say 'again'!" I let out a small snort, before opening the door for him.

"Shall we go, Luci~?" He ignores me, and just walks right in.

We set up the stereo, and Tony looks at us, seemingly surprised that somebody is actually practicing today. Upon seeing that it's just us, he smiles and congratulates us before hopping off somewhere.

"You better follow my lead." Luciano huffs as we begin. I roll my eyes.

I feel much better dancing with Luciano than Tony, and I feel so calm that I almost fall asleep on Luciano's chest (there's no way I'll be able to reach his shoulders, and I hate heels), but then he suddenly stops.

I look up at him,"Luci? What's wrong?"

I think he noticed that I nearly fell asleep, because he steps away and says:"Let's take a break."

"...but we barely got started..."

"Yeah, but..well, I don't think practicing is going to help you." This is vague as shit, and I think it has something to do with my poor health condition, so I grab his hands and put them back in position.

"Let's keep going. This time, you will follow MY lead. I hope you won't disappoint me, Luci." I grin as his face goes from flustered, to angry, and then back to a smoldering anger.

As I move us in time to the music, I try to make light conversation to keep myself awake. "So, why do you love dancing, Luci?"

"...You know, I've been dancing so long, I don't even remember why I started."

That's pretty...weird. How could you forget?

_**I've got to keep dancing. Never forget, never escape-**_

No. Now's not the time to be thinking about that.

I spin us around once, and give Luciano a small smile.

"Well, you could try dancing for my sake, if you don't remember your original reason."

He stares at me, and I have no idea what he sees, because I'm off in my world again, but then he answers.

"...Okay. I won't go easy on you, though!" I spin us around twice more, but do it with more speed.

"I would expect no less!" I grin as I dip Luciano, and it seems he finally remembered that *I* was the one leading, because his face heats up to that cute shade again, and he backs away.

"A-Alright. That's enough for today."

"Good work." I pat his shoulder, before going to grab us some water.

"...You too, actually. I'm surprised you could dance that well." I pass him his water bottle, and raise an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah?"

He doesn't respond, he's just staring at me instead. It starts to make me nervous, so I take out the small pouch of sunflower seeds I keep on me for after practice, and pop them into my mouth, before chasing them down with water.

After a few more minutes, I run out of sunflower seeds, but he's still looking at me. I poke his forehead right between the eyebrows, and he snaps back to reality.

"What?"

"..Oh, nothing. Just... don't dance with anyone else." He starts to walk away, seemingly embarrassed.

"...Oh yeah, I'm going to the Flower Expo tomorrow, if that's ok?" He stops, before waving a hand at me.

"Yeah, sure." He leaves now, and I stand follow suit, planning out my day tomorrow.

Just as I close the door to my room/house, somebody starts knocking on it. I open it up, and there stands Liam. Liam just walks inside, not even waiting to be invited. I notice that he's holding a bouquet of lilies. I frown for a moment. I don't really like lilies, but then again, you can't be picky. They're probably not even for me.

"What are those flowers for, Liam?"

"They're for you, Riki." He hands them to me, and I have to swallow my own words.

"Oh...thanks." He doesn't notice that I do not exactly look happy, and looks thoughtful for a moment.

"Maybe I should send some to Olive..."

"Is Olive your dance partner?" He looks up, and appears to have forgotten I was here, in my own room.

"Oh, yes. She's also my sister, and she's sick right now." I feel a small pain attacking my brain, but I shake it off.

"I hope she gets better soon."

He smiles,"Thanks! Well, I should get going. Bye." Liam walks out of my room, and I stare in the direction of the door for a small amount of time.

"Having your sister as your dance partner, huh?" I mutter, not really speaking to anyone.


	16. Chapter 8PR: Christmas present

When I got up, I felt really good. Sneaking through Riki's stuff was really fun. I hope she never finds out, because if the hidden compartment and the locks were any indication, she obviously didn't want anybody to touch her stuff.

Just as I was getting my breakfast together, the front door opened with a bang. This scared the shit out of me, and I dropped everything. If this had been a horror movie, I would be the stupid bitch to be killed off first.

"Riet?! You in here?" Lucas popped his head into the kitchen door, and he looked incredibly disappointed when he saw it was just me.

I almost wanted to laugh, he looked like a lost puppy. He's obviously been incredibly attached to Rietta since childhood. Maybe he was in love with her? That'd be interesting.

"You need something?" I squeak out after several moments of silence passed by.

"I was just checking to see if Rietta was home for Christmas tomorrow."

This brought back to mind that I had been here for just over a week, but I've not seen nor heard from the enigma that is Rietta. Maybe I should go through her part of the room before I continue going through Riki's stuff.

"Well anyway, since she's not here, I'll leave. If she's back later, tell her that my mom says you two can come over." Lucas muttered as he walked out. I heard the front door open and close again.

I stare at the mess that used to be my breakfast, before deciding that I will not go through the hassle of remaking it. I just leave it there and go upstairs to my hole.

I look around, taking in the mess that I have made of Riki and Rietta's room. The letters are all over the floor, Rietta's covers are hanging off her bed, and there are some clothes lying in the corner of the room (they were there before I was even here, but whatever).

Well, the only place I haven't torn apart is Rietta's closet, so it's probably a good place to start looking.

I flung open the doors, but I immediately slammed them closed.

_Did I really just see what I think I did?_

I open it again just to make sure, and I am once again graced with the sight of several childish drawings of Riki and Rietta, which, by itself, isn't creepy.

Not only are there **no clothes anywhere**, but covering the bottom are more guns and pocket knives with layers of ripped up paper on top of them, but there was one clean corner where there was a wig on a head shaped wig holder. That's creepy. Why do you need a wig that's black when your own hair is that color? Why not just get extensions?

I was about to close the door, but I noticed there was a small calendar on one of the doors. It had really detailed writing on it, but it was written so badly that I couldn't read it. How is Rietta a "bright student" if she can't even write properly?

There were **some **words that were legible, like "HUGE TEST", "STUDY GROUP WITH LUCAS, CAT, AND KEITH", and "AVOID HOME TODAY".

She has dates for tests, studies for them, but doesn't go to school to take them. Is Rietta one of those weird people that jump through firey hoops to prepare for things, but then never go through with them?

I understand though, since I had tried to be a good dancer, but I just wasn't able to meet everyone's expectations. Riki looked confident about her dancing, so I hope she's doing well.

I look at the key I used to get here, I had put it on the vanity, since it was one of the cleanest spots in the room now. If only keys were that easy to find.

I sigh, before turning back to the letters.

* * *

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX 2A**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**It's going to be Christmas soon, which reminds me that it's really cold out, but it hasn't snowed yet. Rietta said to not get my hopes up, but she keeps staring out the window. I think she wants it to snow, too.**_

_**The fact that it's almost Christmas also reminds me that in a few weeks it'll be Rietta's birthday (I learned her birthday from Lucas, who doesn't seem to shut up when it comes to her). I wonder if Mommy and Daddy will come back for Christmas. They haven't been home yet since Thanksgiving, but Rietta wasn't here for that, so it'd be nice if all of us could be together for once.**_

_**You're probably wondering "Why would Rietta need to be here? She's not related to you". Surprise! It turns out that Rietta is my half sister, and her Daddy's gone somewhere, so she's staying with us. Rietta must look just like her Daddy, because she looks nothing like Mommy, Rietta's actually pretty! Don't tell anyone I said that though, because Rietta said that I should stop telling everyone that I think Rietta's pretty.**_

_**Now that I think about it, I don't have a gift for Rietta. I can't give her drawings, because she thinks my drawing is "shit" (don't tell anyone about that either, Aunty got really angry when I let it slip once). I also can't give her any of my princess books, not because I don't want to, but because Rietta said that she doesn't believe in fairytales, and that I need to stop reading them.**_

_**I'll have to do some snooping.**_

* * *

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX 2B**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**I've found the perfect thing to give Rietta! This is great, because there's only 1 day left. You're probably wondering what it is, aren't you? You're such a nosy diary.**_

_**I guess it couldn't hurt to tell you that I had Aunty teach me how to sew (sorry if some blood gets on the page, it took me awhile to get the hang of it), and that I made Rietta the cutest bear ever! It even has a little crown and a cape! I admit, Aunty may or may not have given me some help, but I worked really hard on it! Rietta doesn't have any stuffed animals, or toys for that matter, so she absolutely HAS to love it!**_

_**I've got to go, I still have to wrap it up, and then I have to hide it so that Rietta won't find it!**_

* * *

I look around the room, but I don't find such a thing anywhere. Did it get thrown out? Maybe it fell apart, and couldn't be repaired?

I spend about 10 minutes searching for the "cutest bear ever", but I don't find it. I flop down on the couch, and turn on the magic box, listening to the sound of it as I drift off.

* * *

_I see a tiny girl giggling over a box as she stuffs a terrible looking stuffed bear into a box._

_"Oh man, this is going to be so great! I'm such a genius..." The tiny girl squeals as she wraps up the "secret" present. She hears the slight creak of somebody coming down the hall, and shoves the box underneath the bed._

_The door creaks open, and the black head of Rietta pops inside, staring silently at the girl, but then opens the door all the way and walks inside._

_"...What are you doing sitting on the floor?" The girl, who I now realize is Riki, starts laughing nervously._

_"Nothing! What is it?" Rietta stares off for a moment, looking like she's trying to decide something, but comes to a decision, and nods._

_"...Well, since you're doing nothing... We could watch a movie or something..." Riki beams at Rietta, and drags her downstairs before throwing in a Cinderella movie. Rietta starts swearing underneath her breath, but still sits there (even though her arms are crossed)._

_Halfway through the movie Riki falls asleep on Rietta, drooling all over her sleeve. Rietta looks peeved off, but she just reaches for a blanket, and covers up the two of them before settling in, eventually falling asleep to Riki's noisy breathing._


	17. Chapter 9: Flower Expo:Shit happens

I wake up to see Kips large, beady eyes staring at me extremely close up.

"Morning! Let's go to Tango Garden~" Kip dragged my semi-conscious body to the bathroom, gave me a bath, and dressed me before dragging me out of the house towards a large flowery garden.

It had many bright flowers, a large amount of which I had never seen before. This is not very surprising, since I was never one to venture outside of my normal path, but still.

"It's so pretty..." I feel a small smile work its' way onto my mouth. I look around, wondering where I should go first.

I decide to drift around, sniffing a few flowers here and there. None of them have the same effect as my beautiful sunflowers. After a short while of walking, I spot Kiefer staring intently at some flowers. I walk up beside him.

"You're here, too, Kiefer?" He seems startled for a moment, but quickly regains his composure.

"Yeah."

"Are you here to see the flowers, too?" The words spill out of my mouth before I have time to think. I want to hit myself, OF COURSE he's here for the flowers, this is the damn FLOWER Expo!

He doesn't seem to notice the pure misery I seem to be pouring out, because he responds nonchalantly, "...Do you like flowers?"

I nod, "Yeah, I love them."

Only some of them, really, but he doesn't need to know that.

"Why?" I raise my eyebrow at him.

"What do you mean 'why'?...Hmm... I guess it's because," I lower my voice to a quieter voice,"they open your heart..."

"Open your heart?" He looked thoughtful, even though my words were incredibly cliche.

"I just don't understand."

"Of course you don't." I said this sarcastically, but that seemed to go unnoticed. People here must be incredibly stupid.

"...? What do you mean?" Oh shit, now I have to pull an answer out of my ass. Actually, now that I think about it, Keith was always asking the weirdest questions, and they usually had me giving the strangest answers.

"...Because you're looking at it like you would a puzzle, Kiefer. Don't think about it, just enjoy the beauty for what it is."

Kiefer looked shocked to hear this from me, which makes me wonder if the princess was known for being an idiot. The short amount of time I knew her makes me think she was.

"...I see. You're right," He looked me directly in the eyes, "I shouldn't try to figure it out why it's beautiful. I should just... enjoy it."

Kiefer gave me what, for a Keith-look-a-like, could pass for a smirk. I suddenly had the nostalgic feeling of Keith and I hanging around my house, him making snarky comments on every single thing that came on tv, and me just sitting there, listening to him ramble.

"See ya, Kiefer." I punch him on the shoulder, which is what I would always do to Keith, and now that I think about it, shouldn't you not hit royalty? Oh well.

"...Yeah."

I walk away, but I look back one last time, and Kiefer has returned to staring at the flowers. However, he looks less grumpy. He also seems to be mumbling something. Not my business, I guess.

I walk around some more, and Kip suddenly pops up. I had forgotten that he had brought me here, since he seemed to fly off whenever a guy walks up to me.

"There's Prince Caesar." He points over to a small crowd of girls, which, upon further inspection, _does_ appear to have Caesar at the center. Commoner girls must just **really** love royalty. Who would actually LIKE to be around him? He hits on every girl he sees!

"What should we do, Princess?" Kip seemed to want me to choose a course of action.

I chose the least painful route, "Let's ignore him, I don't want to waste my time near him!"

I continued walking, but I heard Kip mumble, "This princess is very strict..."

He didn't sound displeased, so I assume I chose the right action.

As we were walking away, I got hit with a small pang of my..."condition". I quickly located the closest flower stall, and bought a small bag of sunflower seeds. As I was standing off to the side, popping a few in my mouth, I noticed Liam was buying a bouquet of lilies.

"That's a lot of lilies, Liam." I mumble, not intending for him to hear me, but he apparently did, because he turned to me, surprised. He smiled once he recognized me, and walked up to me after he payed for the bouquet.

"Hello, Miss Riki." I nod, having my mouth full of seeds at the moment. I swallow all of them, and gesture towards his bouquet.

"You must really love flowers." He shuffled his feet around, looking embarrassed.

"Yeah, it's a tiny bit embarrassing."

"Not really, I think it's cool. Liking flowers shows that you're a good person, Liam."

I guess he hasn't been told this before, because he sounded really surprised, "Really? Thank you!" He looks at the flowers and smiles.

"So, why so many lilies?" Liam paused, and regained his usual easy going composure.

"They're for my sister."

"Oh, Olive?" He nods.

"Yeah, lilies are her favorite flower..." He pauses for a moment, and looks down sadly, "She's very sick right now, so she's being taken care of in a distant kingdom, so I don't think I'll be competing in this year's competition. Not that it matters, but I wish her health would improve..."

Liam grows quiet, appearing to have gotten lost in his own thoughts. I pat his shoulder. He looks back at me, and smiles.

"You know, you kind of remind me of Olive, somehow." This startles me. I should not be able to remind anybody of anyone. I don't even really exist...

I speak quickly, "I'm sure it's just because you miss her. I hope Olive recovers soon."

He beams at me, "Yeah... thanks! Well, I have to go now, see you later!"

As he walked away waving, I couldn't help but return his farewell. He and I are just too similar. I watch him leave, then silently turn and walk off, not really paying attention to where I'm going.

Later, I regret that decision, as I run right into the one person I would literally _**die**_ to never see ever again in my life.

As you guessed, Vince is hopping around, doing some kind of... activity. Luckily, he doesn't seem to have noticed me yet, so I try to creep away, but fate decides to fuck me over, and I snap a twig that I swear was not there a moment ago. He lets out a small sound of surprise, but after noticing that it's just me, he gives me a huge grin.

"Riki! Yo!" I turn around slowly, and put a fake look of surprise on, like I hadn't just been trying to avoid him.

"Oh, hey Vince!" I pause, but then continue with the obvious question. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm trying to catch a fly." I let out a small noise of disgust, but he doesn't seem to notice it. I really hate naive people.

"A... fly? Why?"

"Michael and I are going to give it to the Venus Flytrap!"

"Oh, really?" Michael. . .I assume this is the name of the person who is the look-a-like of Mitch, who is notoriously known as Victor's best friend. It's also well known that Mitch had...other motives for being Victor's friend.

Kip pops up, unnoticed by stupid Vince. "The Venus Flytrap is a flower that eats flies!"

I stare at him for a moment, wondering why he felt the need to tell me that. Didn't everybody already know that? The princess must have been dumber than I originally thought... and that's saying something.

"I hate flowers like that! Let's go, Kip." I grab Kip, not letting him have any say in this.

It wasn't exactly a lie, because I don't. The only flowers I like are sunflowers, and lilies (hearing Liam talk to me so much about them, I can't _not_ grow fond of them).

Kip and I look around some more, but things soon wind down.

"Well, the Flower Expo is almost over, so let's call it a day, shall we, Princess?" I nod, and we make our way towards the exit.

As we were nearing it, however, I notice the familiar figure of Luciano. He, like Lucas so often was, appears to be lost. No surprise there.

I approach him, and put my hand on his shoulder, which is what I used to do as a child whenever I'd find that stupid boy. "Why are you wandering around, Luci? You know it's the Expo is closing, right?"

Luciano is quiet for a moment, not even turning around to look at me. "I know... I was just... never mind."

I grin, and walk around in front of him. "You're lost, aren't you?"

Luciano's entire body turned bright red, just like Lucas would when you rightfully accuse him of being lost. "N-No! I just came to see what was so special about the flowers, and then I didn't know the way back! That's all!"

I snort, "I'm pretty sure that's what they call 'being lost'."

He stared at me, not seeming to know what to say, now that I've hit the mark. After a while, he mumbles, "What are you still doing here, anyway?"

_Why would I not stay the whole day on my day off?_

I don't say this to him though, because Luciano obviously has his pride. I do, however, smile at him. "I'm here to help you, Luci."

He looks surprised, which makes me wonder again if nobody here has any manners. "...Oh. Really?"

I nod, "Yeah, if you don't know your way back, I can walk you there. I was leaving anyway."

"Okay... thanks." He smiles, and I grab his hand, pulling him towards the exit that is literally _right in front of us_.

We walk towards the Castle Area in silence, before I look back at him. "Where are you staying, anyway?"

He gives me a weird look, "...At the castle. Why don't you already know that?"

...Why **didn't** I already know that? It should have been obvious that they wouldn't make royalty stay in common people hotels. I should have read some of those stupid books.

When we arrive at the Castle, Luciano starts digging into his jacket pocket. I raise an eyebrow at him, questioning him silently, but he doesn't say anything.

"It's good that you found me, actually. I was going to give you this..." He pulls out the necklace with the seashell. Now that I take a second look, it looks really... pretty.

I smile at him, "Thanks... it's pretty." I take it and stare at it, before reaching up and taking out the heart hair-clip I keep in my hair. I put it in my mouth, and rip the seashell off the necklace. Luciano looks kind of angry about that, but it quickly changes to curiosity as I slip it into my hair. It glows for a short moment, then changes into a hair-clip. I look back up at Luciano and smile.

"Again, thanks. I'll see you at dance practice tomorrow." I bid him a small farewell, then walk back to my room/house next door. I close the door, and look at my reflection in the mirror i n the bathroom that I didn't smash.

It hold's the reflected image that I _hate_ seeing, but the seashell sparkles, making me smile faintly.

_It would really suit her... the princess, I mean._

* * *

Luciano watches his strange partner walk away.

There was definitely something off about Riki. She is much different from the few rumors there were about the princess of Flower Kingdom. The princess here was rarely seen, so not much was known about her. The few things known about her had come from the three servants that frequented the princesses' room.

**1.** **The princess is incredibly stupid.**

_Her servants were always seen bemoaning the fact that their charge didn't seem to understand anything they taught her._

_However, this girl, even though she didn't seem to understand certain things (like the man is supposed to lead when you dance, but that's not a big deal), seemed to be a great deal smarter than the rumor said._

**2. The princess can't dance for shit.**

_Nobody knows where this came from, but it soon became a known fact that the princess of Flower Kingdom was a terrible dancer. No one has really seen it before, so it wasn't a confirmed thing, but it was just one of those facts that nobody needed confirmed._

_This Riki could clearly dance, and seemed to really enjoy doing so._

**3. The princess has incredible athletic abilities.**

_It was the only positive thing that you could ever hear about from the servants. They were always happy to tell you how their princess was always doing some kind of feat._

_This Riki get's ill just from some running around, and faints frequently (or becomes unable to move). She also can't swim (maybe)._

Indeed, his partner is a mystery.


	18. Chapter 9PR

I was snoring peacefully, but that damned Lucas HAD to bang on the door! I groan, not wanting to get up, but when I look out the front window, Lucas's scary ass face is plastered against it. He can SEE me sitting there, so I might as well just answer the door.

"Finally! Geez, it's about time! You've always slept so late." He grumbles, as he drags me out of the house, IN MY PAJAMAS, and brings me over to his house next door. A pretty lady, who I assume is 'Auntie', answers the door, and stares at me when she sees me. After giving me a good stare down, she squeals and grabs us inside.

"You took so long! You shouldn't keep a lady waiting all the time, Lucas!" Auntie drags us into a room that looks similar to the room with the magic box. It even has one of it's own! In the corner of the room is a huge tree, with presents all around it. The biggest one has "Rietta" written all over it. I have the distinct feeling that it's from Lucas.

I'm forced to partake in their opening of the presents activity, and I receive the following:

A sewing kit, 50 different colored spools, 10 fairy tale books, and a huge stuffed teddy bear.

This really looks like stuff Riki might like, so I was legit excited for her. I'm going to smuggle that teddy bear for myself though, it's totally cute.

Auntie makes me stay for dinner as well, and talks nonstop about Riki, Lucas, and Rietta's childhood. It was incredibly interesting, since I haven't gotten through much of her diary yet, but, of course, it was almost filled with Riki and Lucas's creepy obsession with the older girl. I did not see Lucas's dad anywhere, so I didn't ask. If nobody mentions it, it's probably a sensitive subject.

Lucas walked me home (though, it IS right next door) in silence. The moment I walked inside the house he left, like the jerk he is. No wonder Riki didn't really like him.


	19. Chapter 10

I remembered that I just learned a new dance, so I head over to the Dance Hall before practice. I like learning new dances in solitude. Luckily for me, nobody is there.

After I start the music, I close my eyes, and imagine Luciano as my dance partner. I feel lighter as I move to the beat.

When I finished, I swear I heard somebody clapping, but when I looked around, nobody was there.

"...Well, ok. At least it went well..." I turned and walked over to the Practice Hall. To my surprise, Luciano is here before me today, but I guess I spent more time practicing then I thought.

He looked like he was distracted, probably thinking about something, so I put my hand on his shoulder, "Hey, Luci. Shall we start?"

He looked startled, but calmed down quickly, "Ah, hey there. You ready?"

I nod, and I grab his arm, dragging him onto the dance floor. I set us up so that he looks like he's leading, but so that I'm the one actually leading us. He doesn't seem to notice, until Tony starts the music and I start to sway us around the floor. Even then, he doesn't do anything about it, and complies.

When we're done, the clapping comes back, but this time it's real. Tony and some dancers-in-waiting are apparently impressed by our dancing, and Luciano looks smug about it (for some reason). Even Kip seems impressed, because he hands me those weird looking silk ribbons from the shop. They look just as stupid as when I previously saw them.

I yawn, and bid Luciano farewell. He looks upset for a moment, but cools off quickly and agrees to meeting back here tomorrow.

As we leave, Kip starts elbowing me in the cheek, which I think is some kind of obvious attempt to get my attention.

"So, Princess, have you gone on a date with your partner yet?" I don't know why he's even bothering to ask me, when Kip doesn't leave my side, except for when I bathe before I sleep.

"No... am I supposed to?" Kip gets this weird grin on his face.

"Of course! All dance partners go out together, and most eventually get married!" Somehow, this reminds me of Liam, and I vaguely wish that he'll be able to marry his partner, if that's what they want in the future.

"Is that so..."

"Yes! Therefore, you should ask Prince Luciano out tomorrow before dance practice! Then you two can walk to dance practice together. It'll be so cute!"

I sigh, and open the door, because during his weird speech we made it back to my room/house.

"Fine."

_I suppose it could be fun._


	20. Chapter 10PR

When I woke up, I decided that I should really get a move on with those letters, I only have twenty more days.

I skimmed through a few letters, but I stopped after I lightly read over the first entry of the fifth letter.

* * *

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX 5A**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**Today, I entered the third grade! I've gone through over half this diary in under 3 years... that's pretty impressive if I do say so myself (and I do). What's even better is that this year, I'm not in the same class as stupid Lucas! This is great, because he would always ruin my attempts to spend time with Rietta when I'd ask her to help me with school work! That jerk, always offering to help me, but the joke is on him! I get to sleep in the same bed as her! Rietta's bed is way more comfy than mine, but it's really nice in the winter, because I can cuddle closer to her with the excuse of it being too cold. I have no idea if she's caught on to me, but she's always just going with the flow.**_

_**Speaking of Rietta, you know how she recently picked up dancing? Well, she's really, REALLY good at it! So good that she's qualified for a dance competition for young teenagers (which is so cool, because she's only in 5th grade). Auntie said we'll go watch, and even allowed me to get a video camera of my own! I'm going to take SO many recordings and pictures of Rietta! I better find a lock though, since she really hates it when Auntie takes pictures of her.**_

_**Anyway, do you know who is Rietta's dance partner?!**_

_**NOT ME.**_

_**NOPE. IT'S THAT STUPID LUCAS.**_

_**When I asked her why I can't be her partner, she said that only a boy can be a girl's dance partner in the competition. She also said that it's not normal to have your little sister as your dance partner.**_

_**Which is totally unfair! We don't look anything alike, nobody would know!**_

_**Back to my beginning topic: School!**_

_**I became friends with this kid named Victor. He's really funny, and he plays a ton of pranks. He also has a best friend named Mitch. Mitch is pretty weird, he's always clinging to Victor; however, I do the same thing to Rietta. I should talk to him about it tomorrow, he seems like a nice fellow.**_

_**Gotta go now! I'm going to go secretly videotape Rietta's dancing practice in the dance studio she had built in the basement.**_

* * *

Riki's obsession with Rietta is getting... **incredibly disturbing**. This is borderline incest!... Actually, only half incest, since they're only half-sisters.

I wonder how Riki learned to dance though, if her sister didn't choose to dance with her. Maybe she learned from taping her sister so much? Unlikely, but maybe.

* * *

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX 5B**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**Today is a beautiful day!**_

_**Why is it a beautiful day, you ask? Simple!**_

_**I talked to Mitch today, and he enlightened me about how I feel about my darling Rietta! Apparently wanting her all to myself, obsessively following her around, and hating all her other friends is called "love". When I asked him how he knew, he gave me a super serious look and told me that I could never tell anyone. I agreed, and he told me that he had a huge crush on Victor. I asked him why it had to be a secret, and he told me that same gender couples are apparently frowned upon in many places.**_

_**This majorly sucks, because if you haven't noticed, Rietta and I are the same gender!**_

_**Mitch also said that what I have is a special type of love called "incest", which is ALSO highly frowned upon. I'm a double offender!**_

_**I guess I'll just have to subtly drop hints, and work hard at making Rietta fall for me! Then, once we both graduate, we can move to one of those places that DON'T frown upon us (apparently, some states allow same-gender marriage, but we can't tell anybody that we're half-sisters). **_

_**It would also be great if we never had to speak to Lucas.**_

_**Ever again.**_

* * *

Oh. Well, that explains EVERYTHING.

Riki is surprisingly mature, for somebody that's supposed to be another 'me'. Though, I guess I already figured that out from the small amount of time that I actually knew her.

The next few entries are just elaborate drawings of her and Rietta, along with short captions. Riki really improved over that short amount of time, she was really determined to get a compliment from Rietta (which she didn't get because she never showed her better drawings to Rietta because they were all... of this sort).

It's really just too bad that Rietta didn't keep a diary either, it'd be like reading a double p.o.v. story, where you read the same story, but from different perspectives.

I pause my thinking for just a moment.

Is there something I'm forgetting?

It feels like I missed something important...


	21. Chapter 11

The second I'm awake (and I mean TRULY awake, which is after I take a bath), Kip makes sure that he reminds me to go on a date with Luciano before dance practice. I don't understand his enthusiasm, but if that's what royal dance partners usually do, then I guess I should comply so that I don't arouse suspicion. Damn, this "small favor" is more hassle then it's worth..

We go over to the castle, where all the royal guests are staying for the month. I can't enter the wing of the castle that the princes are in, so I wait out in the courtyard for Kip.

After about ten minutes, he comes back out in a fury.

"Prince Luciano went to Samba Square an hour ago! C'monnnn, let's go! He could still be there!" Kip hurries us over to the marketplace, which is cool, because I needed to restock on sunflower seeds anyway. As I'm purchasing a medium-sized bag (to be delivered, of course), I spot Luciano wandering around, looking very obviously lost.

I hurry up and pay, and then I make straight line for Luciano as I call out to him, "Hey, Luci!"

He jumps in the air, startled. He looks around, trying to pinpoint my location. Of course, right after I called out to him, a passerby bumped into me, knocking me to the ground, out of view. They didn't even apologize, just kept walking!

Luciano seems to finally notice that I am lying on the ground, and quickly walks over to me, helping me up. "What are you doing here?"

"Well... I could say the same for you. You look lost, Luci." He looks at me for a moment, before replying.

"...Yeah." He nods, not even denying it, "Yeah, I'm lost."

I raise an eyebrow at him, it's not very like him to admit that he's lost.

"So... where are you trying to go?" I know I'm beating around the bush, but I can FEEL the stares of numerous people (one of whom I am POSITIVE is Kip). I have never been one for social interaction.

"Viennese Waltz Lake. Do you mind taking me?" It's starting to really get on my nerves, his honesty is unsettling.

"No, I don't. Let's go." I speak quickly, and drag him to the requested destination. He remained silent the whole time, so I didn't try to start a conversation.

Once we arrive, the silence still hasn't changed, but at this lake, it suits the atmosphere, and it turns it into a comfortable silence.

Nervous, I blurt out without thinking: "Let's go boating."

Luciano is silent, and when I turn to see why he's being quiet, I am (pleasantly) surprised to see anger back on his face.

"No! What are you thinking? You nearly drowned five days ago because you 'went boating'!"

"Well... that wasn't really my fault. I didn't even _want_ to go boating, and then he just _had_ to rock the fucking boat...!" I didn't even bother trying to cover up my pure hatred of Vince; after all, it's only Luciano. Lucas never cared that I swore, or that I hated Victor for seemingly no reason. In fact, oddly enough, he joined in my hate-fests. Lucas was a weird kid.

"Yeah, seriously. What was he thinking?" Just as I suspected, Luciano displayed the same weird habit of Lucas. I decided to take advantage of this, and kept up the conversation as I secretly got us a boat. Luciano didn't even notice until we were standing right beside it.

"What the... didn't I say no boat?!"

"This is a canoe. They're totally different." I'm lying to his face, I don't even know what a canoe looks like. I think it's... narrower than a regular boat? Hell if I know.

He sighs, and seems to have given up. "At least get a life jacket."

"Why? You swim just fine."

"...It's for you." He gives me this 'duh' look, and I feel insulted somehow.

"...I _can_ swim, you know. It was just really hard with that dress on..."

_And because I have short bursts of stamina, but that's not his business._

"Whatever, let's just go." He makes me sit in the back, which isn't a big deal.

We, and by that I mean Luciano (who would NOT let me do anything), row out into the middle of the lake. We sit in silence, until I, finally getting sick of it, "break the ice".

"It's too quiet."

Luciano lets out a small snort, but is otherwise unresponsive.

I decide to take a different approach, "Hey." Luciano look's up at me, waiting for me to continue. "Can I ask you something?"

"Well, you kind of just did, but sure. What?"

Shit. Now I have to actually think of something. I rack my brain, but all I can think of is dancing.

"...Do you like dancing?" I almost want to smack myself. OF COURSE HE LIKES DANCING, HE'S MY FUCKING DANCE PARTNER. WHAT WAS I THINKING?

He looks thoughtful for a moment. "Dancing... let me think..."

I almost think he's mocking me, if he didn't say this next line with extreme seriousness:

"...I like dancing just about as much as I like you." I have no idea what he means, there are different kinds of 'like'. Friends? Best friends? Some kind of Royal Friends?

"...I don't get it." His entire body slumps for a minute, then he looks up at me, smirking.

"You'll find out." He checks his watch. "Okay, we're leaving. It's almost time for practice."

Luciano doesn't give me any chance of getting in even so much as a question; he takes me by the hand and (somehow) takes us directly to the Practice Hall.

I resume our positions, and we practice the same dance as yesterday.

When we're done, Luciano smiles. "You're getting better."

This is true, I've been getting back into my rhythm much quicker, now that I'm partners with Luciano. I'm not going to tell him that, though. He's already smug enough.

We take a small water break. Kip goes back to my room/house to sign for the sunflower seed bag.

I catch Luciano staring at me. "What is it?"

"You have terrible stamina... but you're surprisingly good at dancing."

I give him my most serious face. "Of course. Even if it kills me, I _have_ to dance."

He opens his mouth to ask me the obvious question, but I cut him off by dragging him back onto the dance floor.

The second we were done, I was about to make a dash for the door, but Luciano stopped me by grabbing my arm.

"Wait!" I stop, and look back at him. He shuffles around for a short period of time, but seems to make up his mind and throws something at me. I just barely managed to catch it (another things I'm not good at: reflexes).

I look down at it, and I'm surprised to see a small wrapped up box. I glance up at Luciano, but he's not even looking at me, he's staring in a different direction with his face all flushed. I tear the wrapping paper with one of my fingernails (it's fragile, just like all wrapping paper), and inside is a small figurine of a sunflower.

"...It's really adorable, Luci."

He seems pleased by my reaction, "Good. I meant to give it to you yesterday, but you left as soon as we finished. It was fortunate that you were already at the market, since I was going to go pick you up anyway."

This is so adorable. But..."Why did you get this? It's not my birthday yet."

"...It was Christmas yesterday."

...How did I even forget? I bought that stupid tree with Lucas' mom...

"Oh yeah... sorry. I didn't even remember." I sigh. I always feel terrible when somebody gives me something for a holiday, and I don't have anything to give them in return.

"That's what I thought. It's fine though, since we went on a date." He looked really embarrassed to say 'date' out loud, but he seemed happy, so I guess it's just one of those things.

But, really? He's not mad? Is this the magic of royal dance partner rituals?!

I suddenly become aware that there is a small group of dancers in the corner of the room, staring at us. They are obviously eavesdropping on our conversation. Well, that's embarrassing.

Luciano seems to have noticed them too, because he had us leave in a hurry. He dropped me off, and walked off into the direction of the castle. I vaguely wondered if he'd get lost. I look at the figurine that I had in the box. It really is adorable. I wonder where he got this?

Speaking of where he got it... I can only imagine the attitude he had when he was getting this. It's an amazing image. I snicker, and set the figurine down on the dresser, right beside my pouch.

_I'm looking forward to dance practice more than usual._


	22. Chapter 11PR

Today is a weird day.

When I woke up, I noticed that it was colder than usual, so I looked at the window to see if it was open or something.

Nope, wasn't open. A rock was smashed through it.

I look at the rock, and I notice that there is a note taped to it.

I pick it up, and read it.

_**GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU LYING PIECE OF SHIT**_

...How does anybody know I'm not Riki? I've barely left the house!

Unless... did Rietta send this? From what I've read, Rietta is big on swearing. If only I had some of her handwriting, I could compare the two.

...Oh, wait! I do know her handwriting!

I run upstairs to the bedroom, clutching the rock note. I throw open the door, and head straight for Rietta's creepy closet. Just as I expected, the calendar is still on the door.

I hold the note up beside it, and look at the form of writing.

They look exactly alike, but the note just throws me off, for some reason.

Oh well.

I throw it down on the ground, and return to my reading.

* * *

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX 5G**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**The best news!**_

_**I convinced my parents that I want to dance, too!**_

_**Maybe they'll make Rietta my partner, she IS a fantastic dancer after all. ;)**_

_**Speaking of my darling sister, I'm going to start throwing myself at her everytime I can, and maybe she'll eventually just come to like me.**_

_**Actually, now that I think about it, Lucas has been unusually quiet lately. I wonder what he's up to.**_

_**Eh, not my business, I suppose.**_

_**I'm going to go badger Rietta into dancing with me!**_

* * *

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX 5H**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**Fuck.**_

_**Everything.**_

_**You know how I haven't been writing for a week? It's because I told my parents that I wanted to dance, and they took me on a small trip with Aunty's family to the country. I was forced to dance with that stupid Lucas! Not only that, but I haven't seen my darling since we got here, even though Aunty said she came along. **_

_**I hate this, I have to pretend I'm having tons of fun dancing with Lucas, when I'd MUCH rather lie in a pit than be anywhere near him! Stupid mother! Stupid father!**_

_**Oh shit! It's storming outside, and it's starting to get really bad.**_

_**Rietta hasn't come back yet, and it's starting to worry me to the point of panic. What if she's trapped under some fallen trees, or got mauled by a bear?!**_

_**I'll just stay up until she comes back.**_

* * *

_**Month XX, Day XX, Year XX 5I**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**Rietta came back at like, 4 in the morning! She wouldn't say anything about where she was, either. Aunty is so upset, although mother couldn't give less of a shit.**_

_**The thing is, now Rietta has a super bad cold. On one hand, this sucks, because she isn't in good health most of the time anyway; however, on the other hand this means that I get to nurse my darling back to health! I've seen this happen in comics sometimes; the main character's love interest gets sick, and then the main character nurses them back to health, gaining infinite love points if they do this right!**_

_**I must succeed! **_

_**(I'll tape this for further remembering in the future)**_

* * *

Oh, Riki... you and you're creepy nature...

I get up to go get a drink, but I tripped over an object.

"Shit!" I rub my leg, and look back to see what tripped me.

It's a box, and it looks unopened. Didn't I open all of them...?

_I decide to save the last box until after I read some of these letters, because the curiosity is killing me. Even though I __**know**__ I shouldn't snoop, these are obviously love letters._

...Oh yeah, I threw it to the side.

I carefully undo the pink ribbon, and open the box.

On the inside, is a bright pink key with a small heart sticker on the handle.


	23. Chapter 12

I wake up, and notice that it's still kind of dark out, so I decide to take a short walk over to Viennese Waltz Lake.

It's very quiet, and almost gloomy without all the little animals flying about. To be honest... it's kind of nice.

I mean, I don't have anything against the animal inhabitants, but I just like peace and quiet every so often.

At the time I finish my inner monologue, I arrive at the lake.

I'm surprised to see that I'm not the only person who had the idea to take a walk. Ahead of me is that stupid Klaus. I look around, and notice that he's not being followed by his fanclub, and his partner...Cynthia(?) isn't with him either.

Oh well, can't help to be friendly early in the morning.

"Morning, Klaus." He looks around, and appears to be shocked that anyone, let alone me, is up.

"...Oh, hey Riki. What are you doing up this early?"

"Probably the same as you, I'm just taking a walk." I pause, then ask him, "wanna join?"

"...Sure."

We walk around for a little, and we end up in Tango Garden.

"Mmm... they smell great." I take in a deep breath, enjoying the scent of flowers.

"Yeah, the flowers here are blooming all year round."

Really? Interesting.

"Do you come here often?" ...Wow, that totally sounded like a pick-up line.

"Not lately, but I used to when I was younger."

"Really?" I don't really care, but it looks like he wants to talk about it.

"Yeah, I used to enjoy dancing here."

"In the garden...?" Good lord... I hope he doesn't ask me to dance.

"Yeah... do you want to dance?" Shit, fuck my terrible lock. I notice that it's gotten lighter outside, and decide to use that to my advantage.

"I can't, I have to go to dance practice." I quickly move away as fast as I can.

When I get to the Practice Hall, I notice that it's locked. Nobody is up yet. Nothing I can do about it, so I go to the Dance Hall instead. Luckily, it's unlocked.

I do a quick run-through of Swan Lake (secretly my favorite dance). When I'm done, I go back over to the Dance Hall.

Luckily, this time it's unlocked. Inside is, of course, my usually angry dance partner. I say "unusually" because he looks really... delighted? No use mentioning it, since it looks like he's trying to hide it.

He notices me walk in, and gives me some kind of (semi-creepy) wave. I go over to him, and we begin the delicious Swan Lake.

Different from usual, Luciano actually tries talking to me while we swirl around.

"What took you so long?" Did I really take that long?...Oh, well. I'll just tell him the whole truth, no use trying to hide it, and then it being found out later.

"Well, I was taking a short walk to the lake, but Klaus was there for some reason. We walked around together for awhile, and then he asked if I wanted to dance." Luciano looked like he was irritated, but let me continue. "I declined, and came over here, but the door was locked, so I danced by myself. Then I came over here."

By the time I was done speaking, the dance was over. I stepped back, and waited for him to respond. After several moments of emotions flitting across his face, he settled on calm.

"Well, it's good that you turned him down. He was kind of annoying, wasn't he?"

"Eh...kind of. I'm used to annoying people. I grew up with a few of them."

This didn't seem to be the right response, because he just stared at me blankly for a few moments, then said "see you tomorrow" and left.

I wonder if I did that right.


	24. Chapter 12PR

I'm super hyped up today! Now that I have Riki's key, I can open up all her shit!

I pace around the house, looking all the locked up things I could open. I settle on opening the boxes in the room next to the girls' bedroom.

I open the door, and look at the boxes in the corner. Those are the only things in the room: fives boxes. Two of them belong to Riki.

I open up one of them, and gaze upon all the stuffies that resemble Rietta. Good to know Riki's obsession didn't get TOO insane.

Honestly... what was she thinking? That nobody would ever see them? I thought she was smarter then this.

I sigh, and look through the box. At the bottom is ONE Riki plushie wearing a wedding gown. This is so weird. What is wrong with her?! _'Oh man, my sister is so cute. I'm going to make a bunch of plushies of her, THEN I'm going to put one of me at the bottom, so it's like I'm surrounded by Rietta's!'_

Gross!

I turn to the other box, expecting more creepy objects. I'm pleasantly surprised to find just a couple of sketchbooks. I crack open one of them, and I'm amazed at the well-done sketches... of Rietta sleeping. No surprise, though, since I doubt Rietta would pose for a drawing.

I skimmed through the pages, and it's incredible/scary how detailed they get. There's even a secret one of her doing a project with who I assume is Keith (since he looks nothing like Lucas). I'm honestly surprised that she bothered to draw Keith, but I guess that she didn't find him a threat. With a name like Keith, he sounds like a good guy.

There's loud knocking coming from downstairs, so I set everything back down and go downstairs. I open the door, and get assaulted in the face with another rock. I clutch my nose, which has started bleeding profusely, and look around to see where it came from. Absolutely nobody's around, so I guess whoever did it ran off.

Damn, do people hate Riki that much? I open the note that was attached to it.

_**FUCK YOU FOR NOT LISTENING TO ME.**_

_**I'LL BE BACK, I HOPE YOU FUCKING SUFFER.**_


	25. Chapter 13

Ever since I got here, I haven't had too many nightmares. It must be because this place is just so peaceful. I have to admit that it's pretty nice here. Friendly people, cuddly animals, thousands of flowers... there's not even any dirty gossip ... I think. Then again, I've only been here for twelve days, and I haven't exactly been Miss Social.

I twiddle my thumbs, returning back to my nervous antisocial habits. Kip dragged me to Samba Square so he could do some shopping before practice. I can't think of why he couldn't wait until after practice, but whatever.

My problem is that _there are way too many fucking people here_. Why are these people even here? It's super early! Don't people tend to avoid mornings?!

Not only that, but I can SEE Vince ten feet away, and with my luck, it's only a matter of time before he sees me -

"Hey Riki! What are you doing at the market?" Vince runs up to me so quickly, it occurs to me that he's always waaaay too excited to me. Fucking creeper.

"Oh, Kip had something to do, so I'm just hanging around... waiting." His whole face lights up, and he grabs my arm, dragging me away as he talks.

"Great! We can go shopping together while we wait!"

Vince drags me around for what feels like HOURS, but I see on a nearby clock that it's only been fifty minutes.

"There's sooo many shops here! Isn't it great?!" He grins, then spots some kind of thing. "OH, HEY! Look, it's a cookie shop!"

I look at it, and it looks pretty good, not gonna lie. "...They're cute...and they look pretty good..."

My mouth starts watering; I've always been fatally weak to sweets and desserts.

"Y-You're kind of freaking me out... want me to buy you one?" I swivel my head towards him.

"Really...? That'd be great!" He gets this bashful look on his face, and I immediately I know that I've done something wrong. I do NOT want Vince to follow me around like a love struck puppy.

"Don't mention it... which one do you want?"

I look at the three, and I decide on the cat. "I want the kitty..."

"Okay! Hold on, I'll be right back." He runs off towards the shop, and comes back five minutes later.

He hands it to me in a baggy. "You have dance practice soon with that cynical guy, right? You could eat it afterwards."

Vince has a very cheerful smile on his face, and a weird twinkle in his eyes.

"See you later, Riki! Make sure you eat the cookie right after practice, ok?"

Vince waves as he runs off to god only knows where. Good riddance!

I walk into the Practice Hall, but Luciano's not here yet. Tony hops up to me (geez it's been a long time since I've last seen him! Some dance instructor he is), looking pleased to see me by myself.

"Miss Riki, Prince Luciano isn't here yet, do you want to attend a special lesson?"

"No thanks, I'll just wait for Luci." Tony looks disappointed. I hear the door chime, and turn around.

"Oh, Prince Luciano's here. Well, if you'll excuse me..." Tony hops away, and Luciano puts his hand on my shoulder to get my attention.

"You ready to start?" I nod, and we begin our dance.

"That was good work," Luciano smiles," want to go for a walk...?"

"...Uh, sure?" The two of us walk out of the room, and after some walking, we end up at the lake.

"...Luci, where did you mean to take us? I doubt you wanted to go boating again."

Luciano mumbles something. "Luci, speak louder. I can't understand mumblese."

His face heats up,"I was trying to take you out on a date at the beach!"

"...You could have just said so. C'mon." I take Luciano's hand, and lead us directly to the beach, even though I think I've only been there ONCE.

We arrive at Rumba Beach, and like it says in the name, the waves crash to some kind of rhythm. We sit on the sand, and I slowly feel my mind losing it as I watch the waves crash together.

"The ocean is nice, isn't it?"

"Mmm... yeah. Oceans are pretty cool in my world as well."

"...Your world? What do you mean?"

"What?" Oh shit, I said that out loud? FUCK. Now I have to think of an excuse. "Oh, I meant that I have these weird dreams where I'm on an abandoned island, surrounded by a large ocean as far as I can see... it was really pretty."

I can tell that he totally believes me, I'm such a detailed liar!

"Oh... ok. You're kind of...odd. Anyway, there are a lot of other kingdoms on the other side of this ocean. . ."

"Oh, really?" That's kind of cool... although, I guess it was kind of obvious. Shit, I may be getting dumber and dumber the longer I'm here.

"In one of them, the World Dance Competition is held each year." They have them here, too? That's cool.

"A World Dance Competition?"

"Yeah, around this time, dance pairs from all over the world gather to compete. It's pretty amazing..." He pauses, looking out into the horizon.

"We should enter together." Preferably _before_ I leave.

"Heh... not until you practice more." I REALLY hope he's just teasing me, and the smile tugging at his mouth makes me think he is.

"But... if I **could** enter with you..."

"..What? Did you say something?" I wasn't really able to hear what he was saying, because I suddenly remembered that kitty cookie Vince got me. He said to eat it after practice, right? Kind of sketchy, but whatever.

"...Never mind. What are you doing?"

"Vince got me a cool cookie earlier... he said to eat it after dancing. Isn't that odd?" I pull out the cookie, and marvel at it's beauty before popping the whole thing into my mouth.

* * *

- - -Luciano's P.O.V.- - -

"What? Why'd you get cookies with Vince? Don't you hate him?" Who would get treats with somebody they hate?

Getting no response, I turn to see what she's doing. For some reason, she's just sitting there, staring at her hands with a concentrated expression. I move a hand towards her, and her eyes shift towards me, as if just remembering I'm here.

"Are you feeling alright?" Her whole demeanor changes; her eyes light up, her expression becomes... friendly.

"Meow!" Riki smiles widely and moves closer towards me.

"W-what's wrong? Riki?"

"Meow! Meo~w!" She lets out some strange noise, and cuddles up next to me, rubbing her face in my shoulder. This is getting really weird, I thought Riki didn't like close physical contact? I grab the bag from the sand where she was previously sitting.

_**Mimic Cookies: Best cookies for couples!**_

...I want to punch Vince in the face. Though, this explains her suddenly overly friendly attitude.

"So you're a cat?" I pat her head, and she lets out a loud purr, nuzzling into my hand.

"Oh? You want your head scratched?" I scratch her head, and she just goes crazy, suddenly throwing herself across my lap, before her head just hits the sand.

I shake her a little, but she doesn't move, or make any sound. I'm pretty sure she passed out. Maybe the stuff in the cookie was too strong for her?

Too bad. I guess I'll just take her home, I was probably going to anyway.

* * *

- - -Somewhere not so far away- - -

Vince giggles to himself. His bff Michael looks at him weirdly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking about this one girl I helped out earlier. She's probably getting all cuddly with her dance partner right now." Michael gives him a weird look.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Well... I almost accidently killed her... and she's pretty nice." Michael lets out a chuckle.

"You just don't seem to have the best luck with girls-OW!" Vince chucks a pillow at Michael, nailing him in the face.

"Shut up."


	26. Chapter 13PR

**Shit! I got the point where the story branches off into two parts wrong Bc**

**I was playing through a Liam Route, and saw that the day I was planning to split the story off came two days earlier than I expected. Prepare for some rushing in the next update.  
**

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Sadly, since the window was broken in the bedroom, I caught a cold from sleeping in there anyway.

Now Aunty is fussing over me, and preventing me from reading anymore letters, or doing anything productive (she moved me into the living room because the bedroom's such a mess).

Apparently, whenever Riki gets sick she reads a bunch of fairytale books, because that's all Aunty gave me to do. This wouldn't be so bad, since I could study more of this world's culture, but Riki scribbled all over the book! Not only that, but it's not a childish scrawl, it looks kind of recent! I can't even read her scribbles... she crossed all of them out.

There's only one book that has almost no scribbles:

**Cinderella**

The only actual scribbles are how she colored Cinderella's hair brown, and turned the Prince's hair black. That's not obvious _at all_.

I kind of think it should have been the other way around, but it's not really my business.


	27. Chapter 14

_"Big Siiiis! Look at what I made!" Riki brought out two dolls from behind her back. They looked exactly like the two girls. Rietta's eyes narrowed, her mouth twitching._

_"...What the hell did you make __**those**__ for?" Riki's eyes widen._

_"D-Do you not like them?" Riki's lower lip slightly protruded her upper lip, shaking in a cute little pout, with her eyes shining with potential tears. Rietta's mind reeled backwards, feeling incredibly guilty._

_"Nononono- That's not what I meant. They look fine. Holy shit- don't cry! I-I'll take you out for ice cream?!" Rietta was visibly bothered by it, awkwardly moving her hands around, trying to figure out how to comfort the smaller girl. Riki instantly brightened up, beaming at her sister._

_"Yay! Just the two of us, okay? Let's go~" Riki dragged Rietta out of the house, leaving the two dolls behind._

_Rietta felt tricked._

* * *

"Princess! Wake up! The day has finally come!" Hearing these ominous words being shouted in my ear, I instinctively shot up.

"What?! It's the day of the Saint-Lyon Ball?!"

"What?...No, I meant that today's the Horse Racing Derby! You haven't heard about it?"

I wracked my brain, trying to recall if the 'horse racing derby' has ever been mentioned. "Uh... Nope. What is it?"

"It's the best race in the whole world! Princes gather from all the other kingdoms, racing each other on horseback!"

"For what?" Kip looked at me stupidly, and skipped right over my question.

"It's being held at the Cha-Cha-Cha Arena! Let's go~" Kip grabs my wrist and drags me to the door, before remembering I'm in my pajamas, and allows me to go bathe and get changed.

I decide to wear a long, navy blue dress with sleeves. It pools at my feet, a few centimeters too long. It's probably supposed to be worn with heels, but I fucking hate high heels, so fuck that.

"Ok, I'm ready now." I decided to just give it up and go, since Kip is going to bitch about it all day if I don't.

The Arena was packed full of people, and that made me INCREDIBLY uncomfortable. Luckily, there was a special section near the front for princesses. I, being the host princess, got the best seat, which was a lone seat with nobody on either side of me. This was great! I look out into the ring, and notice how the princes were leading their horses around, apparently warming up for the race. It occurred to me that Luciano would be in there too, so I scanned the group, trying to find him.

Oddly enough, Luciano wasn't there. _He probably got lost._

"Ooh~! I can't wait!" Kip looked so pumped. I wondered how often he gets out to see these types of events, but then I shook it off and looked back into the ring.

"...Hm? Is that Klaus?" Sure enough, staying near the edge of the ring alone, was Klaus, looking incredibly dejected.

"Oh dear, what could be the matter with him? He's usually the winner of this event..." I had a bad feeling about this..

"Why don't you go see what's wrong?" Shit- This stupid matchmaking mouse!

Kip pushed me over to the corner where Klaus was, and called out to him. Apparently, Klaus cannot tell apart my voice from Kip's, because he looked over at me and gave me a half-hearted wave before trotting over.

"Hello, Riki. Something the matter?" Even his voice radiated depression. It was starting to grate my nerves.

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that? You don't look so good. Did something happen?"

"...Oh. It's nothing, it's just..." Klaus sighed. I went over a mental list inside my brain, going over what could possibly be bothering him. I finally came up with an answer, and glanced back over at the Princessess' Section, and that confirmed my suspicion. I had to word my sentence carefully, otherwise this stupid guy would be so butt hurt.

"Is it about dancing?"

Klaus stared at me, appearing to be just so surprised that I even came up with an answer. This guy somehow makes me feel just SO good about myself (this was sarcasm).

After a few moments of silence, I speak back up. "I knew it. Did something happen with Cynthia?"

Klaus remained an iron man, not saying anything. I decided to just let him be a huge baby, and left.

I returned to my seat, and the race began. Kip was bouncing with joy.

Klaus still looked catatonic, like the huge whiner he is. Luciano was still nowhere to be seen, so I excused myself to leave, with 'getting food' as a cover.

I came back at the end, having bought some food just to go with my excuse for leaving.

"Aw, Princess! You missed it! The race was so exciting!" Kip was still visibly pumped up, even though the event was officially over.

"Oh, darn. Who won?" Kip was quiet for a moment, going over the event in his mind.

"...I don't remember. But it was great!" I'm guessing it wasn't Klaus, then. Oh well, after all that moping, he doesn't deserve to win. I decided to just disregard that, and move on to my main question.

"...I wonder where Luciano is, he wasn't in the race." Kip suddenly turned sober, losing all previous enthusiasm, but he still had a weird smile on his face.

"I'm not sure, he didn't appear after you left. Should we go look for him?"

I had a feeling Kip was teasing me, but I agreed, and the two of us left to look for the missing prince.

Obviously, the first place to look is the Practice Hall.

I open the door, and (Tada!) there he is, just hanging around.

"There you are, Luci." Luciano looks over at me, and moseys on towards me.

"What took you so long?" This question surprised me... but only slightly.

"I was at the Horse Racing Derby with Kip. Were you practicing this whole time?"

He looked bewildered for a moment (is it that unnatural for me to go to a public event?), but recomposed himself with that jerkish grin. "That's right, I was practicing my dance moves while I waited here."

"That's impressive. It's a shame you weren't there though, I might have actually stayed to watch."

He gave me a weird look, his eyes depicting some kind of unknown emotion. "You went to the derby, but didn't stay to watch it?"

"Nah, I don't really like events like those." Luciano sighed.

"Then what was the point of going? You could have just came to practice. There's only seventeen days until the ball, you know. The more practice you get in, the better!" Luciano got increasingly more irritated as he spewed out nonsense.

"...Of course." He dropped his act, and held out his hand.

"All right then. Let's practice. Right now."

"Sure." I place my hand in his, and we do the Minuet (ironically, it's a Cha-Cha type dance).

Geez, that dance always makes me terribly dizzy. All that spinning around really gets to your head after the first dozen spins. It doesn't help that you immediately spin the opposite way.

"Ughhhh..." I clutch my head, waiting for Luciano to come back with some aspirin and a cup of water.

"Here you go." I take them, nodding my head in thanks, and instantly regretting it.

"You did pretty well." Luciano sounds like he's trying to be positive, but he's not doing a very good job at it.

"Even though you were messing around, you still haven't lost sight of your dancing." I almost want to punch him. _Of course_ I haven't! I was just practicing WITH HIM(!) yesterday!

"Of course not!" I worked hard to keep the anger out of my voice.

He lets out a short laugh,"Good. See you tomorrow!"

He walks away, leaving me to hobble home by myself after sitting there for an hour.

Just as I'm getting in bed, Kip pops inside of the door, having been gone for hours.

"I found out why Prince Klaus was so sad!" I look over at him, and remembered what he's talking about. I nearly forgot about that stupid baby.

"Oh, really?"

"It turns out he and Princess Cynthia got into a huge fight, and she dumped him!"

Big shocker! The overconfident popular boy got dumped by his pretty girlfriend. I have a new level of respect for Cynthia.

"Oh, that's too bad..." My words don't match my attitude, and Kip catches it when I burst out laughing.


	28. Chapter 15

When I walk outside of my little room/house, I notice there's a distinct gloomy pressure in the air. I wonder if lots of people had bet big money on Klaus for the derby. He should probably watch himself, I know for a fact that betters tend to get really violent when they lose big money.

I make my way over to the Practice Hall, and Luciano's there before me (again).

We get to quick work, and do the Minuet (to my dismay). Right after that, Kip goes spastic, and gives me a present... a witch's hat. I don't know how to feel about that, so I just put it on to keep him quiet. Luciano stares at me, before looking away quickly.

"What's wrong, Luci? Let's go again."

"..Yeah, let's get started."

We do the Minuet... again. I'm beginning to wonder if Luciano has a personal vendetta against me. We spin so much that the room doesn't stop spinning, even ten minutes after we stop dancing. Luciano forces me to sit against the wall while he goes with Kip to get my medicine from my room/house.

After sitting there for five minutes, the bell rings, indicating that somebody has entered the Practice Hall. I slowly turn to see if it's Luciano, but it's actually Kiefer, much to my surprise. It hits me that I have not seen him in quite a while.

"...Princess Riki? What are you doing?"

"..Oh, Hey Kiefer. I'm just... sitting." He walks over, and squats beside me.

"Where's that partner of yours?"

"Getting me medicine." I pause, "Hey. Where were you during the Horse Derby? I didn't see you."

Kiefer fidgets, looking uncomfortable. "Oh... I was... busy."

I could just leave it at that, but I had nothing to do. "You can tell me~ There's nobody else even here."

"..." Kiefer stays quiet, and I know that I've won. Keith always would get quiet after being cornered, so that he could 'gather his thoughts'.

"...I can't whip the horses." Tada! Time to act clueless.

"What do you mean?"

"I just can't stand hurting those horses for no real reason..." Kiefer looks truly embarrassed, just as I had anticipated.

"Heh, you're just too kind Kiefer."

Kiefer stews in his own embarrassment, before escaping through the front door (which is the only door, really), brushing right past Luciano. Luciano looks back inside, and sees that I'm the only one in there. He marches right up to me, and gives me my medicine, looking sort of upset.

"What were you talking about with that guy?"

"You mean Kiefer? We were talking about horses."

"Then why'd he leave?"

"He just likes animals, and he thinks it's unmanly." Luciano stops his small-scale interrogation, and offers me his hand. I take it, and the two of us walk back to my room/house in somewhat peaceful silence (there IS still that gloomyness in the air).


	29. Chapter 15PR

I was woken up by somebody gently running their hand through my hair. At first, I thought it was Aunty, but then I looked up, and saw a face I did not recognize.

"I'm sorry. Is this my fault?" The voice was vaguely familiar, but different at the same time.

"...Who are you?" The girl raised an eyebrow, and bursted out laughing.

"What do you mean who am I? I wasn't gone for _that_ long." The confident smirk on her face made me instantly realize who it could be.

"Oh! It's Rietta, right?"

"...Uh, yeah. Are you feeling okay?" I sniffed in response. Rietta laughed again, and grabbed a tissue, before putting it up to my nose.

"Blow." She commanded, and I had no reason not to obey.

After that she went into the kitchen, made me food, and fed it to me before cuddling under the blankets Aunty had given me.

"Uhh, Rietta, I'm sick you know." Rietta ignored my protest, and cuddled close until our cheeks were touching, and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"It's fine, you're almost completely healthy anyway. Let's just sleep together, please~? I haven't been home in yeaaaaars!" This didn't make any sense, considering everything has been pointing towards Rietta having been here until Riki left, but I was so tired that I didn't even care anymore.

* * *

When I woke up for the second time that day, I was about to stretch, but then I realized that I was unable to raise my arms. I opened my eyes to see what was wrong, but I couldn't see anything; my vision was pitch black.

"Oh, did you wake up~?" I could hear that singsong tone that I've used so many times before. This was impossible.

"Who are you?" I shrieked, extremely freaked out by the situation.

"None of your business! The REAL question is who are **you**? Why are you impersonating Riki?"

"What do you mean? I **am** Riki!" How could anybody tell the difference? Riki and I look identical!

"No you're not, otherwise you would have tried to kill me for impersonating you."

"I'M SO CONFUSED. JUST TELL ME WORDS." I groan, my head hurting from the circular way she was speaking.

"If you were REALLY Riki, you would have known that it was impossible for me to be Rietta." There was a rustling sounds, and then the blindfold was taken off my face. Everything was white for a moment, but then my eyes readjusted. In front of me was an impossible sight. In fact, it was so impossible that I wondered if this was a hallucinated dream caused by my cold.

"You aren't Rietta, which means that you also aren't Riki. I know this, because I am, in fact, Riki herself."


	30. Chapter 16

When I woke up, I had a feeling today was going to be a terribly long day.

I arrived at the Practice Hall bright and early. I was not able to sleep very well last night, too many memory dreams, so I brought my pouch to help me keep up my spirits. Kip hobbled in after me a few minutes later, and looked around to see that we were the only ones there at the moment. He came up close to me, and I already knew he was going to talk about something trivial.

"Sooo, Princess. How's your dancing been going?"

That sounded harmless enough, so I answered quietly, "It's going pretty well."

"And how do you like dancing with Prince Luciano?"

I knitted my eyebrows. _What does Luci have to do with dancing?_ "He's really good at dancing. He's a hell of a lot better than my old dance partner."

Kip seemed surprised at this, "You used to have a dance partner?"

"Yeah. He's my childhood friend, actually. He was pretty childish."

"...So you prefer Prince Luciano?" Kip got that creepy grin back on his face. Damn he is scary.

"In a matter of speaking... I suppose so." The bell that indicated that somebody has entered rang, and in walked Luciano. God, I hope he did not hear us.

"Morning, Riki. Shall we begin?" I nod, and hand Kip my pouch for safe keeping.

We dance the Minuet again, and surprisingly, I was barely dizzy at all. Maybe my body just grew reaccustomed to how much spinning there is in dancing.

Anyway, I went to go grab us some water at the request of Kip.

* * *

- - -Luciano's P.O.V.- - -

"Princess, why don't you go get some water for the two of you?" The mousey assistant semi-ordered Riki, who easily complied (for some reason).

The mouse turned to me as soon as she left and thrust the pouch into my hands before leaving, saying something about 'going to get the princess's medicine'. Was he talking about those sunflower seeds she inhales everyday? What kind of medicine is that?

I turned my attention back to what I heard this morning.

_"He's really good at dancing. He's a hell of a lot better than my old dance partner."_

I smirked. I truly pity whoever was her last partner, they really missed out. For all her weird oddities, Riki is a good partner. _And really cute-_

The bell rang, and I turned my head slightly to see who it was, because it was rather nice to be the only two in the hall. It was rather unexpected that the person who came in was Klaus.

_What the hell is he doing here? He doesn't have a partner anymore._

Klaus smiled at me, and casually walked over. "Hey, is Riki here?"

"Yes, but she's busy." I snapped at him. Klaus really gets on my nerves.

Klaus opened his mouth to respond, but we were interrupted at the worst possible time by the girl in question.

"Luci, I got the water..." Riki's tone got quieter when she spotted Klaus. "Oh... hello, Klaus."

Klaus smiled (it was different from the one he gave me; it's the smile that gets all those other princesses riled up) at her, and waved. "Good morning, Riki. Can I ask you for a favor?"

She passed me my water bottle,"I would like to know what I would be agreeing to first, if you don't mind." Her voice sounded slightly irritated, but her face remained apathetic. Klaus didn't seem to notice.

"I was wondering if you would give me one dance. Since I broke up with Cynthia, I have no other way of practicing my dancing."

My eyes widened in surprise. Was he really asking her to dance in front of her dance partner? And during practice? I glanced at Riki, but she was just taking a sip of water, appearing very calm and collected. She swallowed, and gave a large sigh.

"Klaus, I can't do that, and you know it. I already have a dance partner," She gestured towards me,"and we're in the middle of practice, for god's sake. You will have to ask somebody else."

This did not seem to be the answer he expected, because Klaus' face went from polite to annoyed in a snap.

"What? Why would you want to dance with this shorty when you could dance with me?" Did he seriously just call me short? Has he seen Vince? Now THAT is short.

"Klaus, get out." Riki's tone was very short, and had finality written all over it.

Klaus glared at me, and seemed to recognize the pouch that I was still holding. He snatched it, and held it high above his head so that Riki couldn't reach. Riki was basically throwing herself against him, smacking him with her water bottle in her vain attempts to get it back.

"You should have agreed to dance-" Klaus didn't finish his sentence, he just stared at Riki, looking horrified. Riki was starting to cough rather harshly, and I saw specks of red splatter on the ground. There wasn't a single doubt as to what it was.

Blood.

Klaus actually seemed to be so shocked that he lost his balance for only a second, but it was enough to send him falling backwards, the pouch flying from his hand. It crashed onto the ground, a black substance spilling everywhere. Riki all but trampled Klaus, scrambling over to where her pouch landed. Unfortunately, she tripped over some of the substance, and smashed her head on the floor. I approached her carefully, and heard that damned Klaus doing the same.

"Riki...? You okay?" I tilted her head up, and cringed at how much blood there was. While only a little of it was coming from her forehead, there was seemingly gallons of it spilling out of her mouth. Her eyes refocused, and she shoved me out of the way.

"No! Don't come near! You're stepping all over her!" She screeched, trying to pick up the substance. It was rather pathetic to see, because it kept sticking to her blood-stained hands.

"I have to pick it all up! Go get me a dustpan!" Riki was starting to sound out of it, and collapsed immediately after issuing her psuedo-command, lying right in the rapidly increasing puddle of blood. At that exact moment, the mouse came in, carrying a small container of sunflower seeds.

"Princess, I have your medic-OH MY GOD!" He screeched, dropping the container, shattering the glass and spreading the seeds all over the floor. He flew right up to her face, and tapped his fingers against her cheek. When she didn't respond to that, he took out a mini phone from nowhere, and called for an ambulance.

They quickly arrived, and as they gently put Riki on the stretcher, even more blood oozed from her mouth. The mouse turned to us, and his fur was dripping red.

"Pick up what's left of the pouch, and follow me. You two have explaining to do." We quickly followed him, not really sure of the situation.

* * *

- - -Rietta's Past P.O.V.- - -

_Sissy! I'm going out to swim in the lake with my friend, okay? I'll be back later!" Riki grins as she waves her hand at her sister._

_"Whatever... be back by dinner or else I'll just eat your food." Rietta lies on the grass with a book covering her face, Lucas sitting beside her, gently throwing rocks into the lake that lies at their feet, so as not to annoy her._

_"Okay! Let's go Vic!" Riki runs hand in hand with her blonde haired friend, the two of them giggling to themselves._

_. . ._

_Rietta hears some kind of loud sound, and sits up, startled. Her book falls off her face, nearly landing in the lake, but Lucas grabs it before it lands. Rietta looks up at the sky, and notices that it's been a significant amount of time since Riki left._

_**I must have fallen asleep.**__ She shook her head, and shielded her eyes from the sun, looking out onto the lake for two of her charges. They were very far out, in the middle of the very large pond. Actually... she could only see Victor. Where is Riki?_

_It was then that Rietta noticed the large thing that was thrashing right next to the boat, and instantly knew what was happening. Rietta ripped off her shirt that she had been wearing over her bathing suit, and jumped into the lake._

_Figuring that it was just an attempt to get her attention, Rietta wasn't all that in a rush. However, that changed the moment Riki sunk below the surface. This caused Rietta to push herself as hard as she could physically handle, and dived below the surface, intent on grabbing her sister before she reached the bottom._

_Sadly, Rietta was not very fast, even when she pushed herself as hard as she could. By the time she reached the bottom of the lake, Riki was already there, and looked like she ran out of air. Rietta grabbed her and kicked hard enough for her joints to feel like they were going to snap._

_The moment they broke the surface, Rietta saw the ambulance off on shore, and took off towards them. With Riki's extra weight, however, Rietta was only able to make half the distance before her body got too exhausted, and her body gave out._

_**I'm sorry. . . .**_

* * *

- - -Luciano's P.O.V.- - -

Klaus had to go with Kip to explain what happened, so I was left behind to stay with Riki. I sit in a chair beside her hospital bed, and stare at her.

She is hooked up to a multitude of machines, two of which are blood pouches. They had to knock her out, because she was struggling when they got to the hospital, even though she was only semi-conscious.

Sadly, they had to cut off a few centimeters of her hair, because they couldn't be bothered to try and get the blood out. Now that it's been washed, that one piece of hair isn't sticking up, and the tips of her hair don't curl. In a way, it looks kind of pretty.

Time passes, and it feels like days have gone by, even though it's only been two hours. Eventually, Riki's eyes flutter open. Her eyes seem to be glazed over, and she looks around without physically moving, finally landing her eyes on me.

"Where am I?" Her tone is lifeless, colder than usual.

"Flower Hospital." Her mouth twists into a frown, and she seems to be thinking deeply.

"So it was just a dream." Astonishingly, tears start rolling down her cheeks. I was taken aback, she did not seem like the type to cry at all.

"What was the dream about?" Riki ignored me, and continued to speak quietly, almost as if she was talking to herself.

"So I'm still here...and she's still gone." Her head tilts over towards my direction, finally acknowledging me.

"Have you ever been doing something for so long that you have a hard time distinguishing between that and what you're doing?" She paused,"I've been doing this for so long that I can't even tell if I'm this or that anymore."

I stay silent, figuring that it's just the medicine that's making her talk crazily. I don't really follow what she's saying, but it sounds eerie.

She continues her rambling for awhile and then falls asleep. Kip comes in shortly after, and whispers to me, so that he doesn't wake her up.

"How's she doing?"

I had to give him my honest answer, which was "I don't know."


	31. Chapter 16PR (Last PR chapter)

The sight before me was that of my other self, except she had longer brown hair (apparently the black hair was just a wig), and a very serious face, which is **way** different from her face earlier.

"Wait. Waitwaitwaitwait- You're Riki?" She nods. "Then the Riki that was here was not you, and was actually Rietta who was disguised as you for some reason?"

Riki sighs,"Sadly, you're correct. After she came out of a coma, my stupid parents told her I died when we both nearly drowned in a lake three years ago, and she believed them despite all the treatment they've given her."

"Then how'd you find out?" After reading her diaries for so long, I'm emotionally invested in her life... no matter how creepy that is.

"Well, after a year I also came out of a coma, and they gave me a letter that 'came from Rietta'. It said that she never wanted to see me again, and that she moved in with her dad. It didn't look a thing like her actual handwriting, but I was so out of it that I believed it instantly. I only found that it was a lie when she sent my parents a letter from this house a month ago, asking them to bury this key with my supposed corpse." Out of her pocket, she pulled out a dark blue key with a large black 'R' on it. It was clearly the key that I had been missing.

"I realize now that it opens up some of her stuff, but that doesn't sound like it's important enough to get a key." Riki stares at it, trying to unlock the mysteries of the key with her mind; which, if it's anything like mine, will not happen anytime soon.

I recall something that Rietta-Riki told me right before she left...

_"There's an emerald necklace in my bedroom on the wall, please don't touch it under any circumstances!"_

_"Sure, but in exchange, don't go into the basement. I cannot stress how important it is that you don't go down there!"_

"...The basement." Riki snaps her head towards me.

"What did you say?"

"Before she left, Rik-Rietta told me not to go in the basement. That might be what the key is for." Riki gave me a suspicious look for a few moments, before untying me ( but only from the chair) and dragging me towards the back.

"You're probably right, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten why I tied you up. Rietta spent a lot of her time in that basement, it was the one place Mother would not go."

"Oh yeah, what's wrong with her? Why does she hate Rietta so much?" Leaving her oldest daughter in a house with only a neighbor to care for her... that's pretty harsh. At least I have Kip to pay attention to me.

"Rietta's dad and my mother got drunk when they were in college... resulting in Rietta. Her dad is at least being responsible, he's paying for her living here, and sends presents to her frequently. She had the option of going to live with him and her younger half-brother, but she chose to stay here instead, for a reason that even my mother doesn't know."

We finally arrive at a large door that has been painted blue by an amateur, probably a young Rietta, with a padlock and sign that said _'Rietta's Dance Hall. Do __**not **__Disturb'_, and below it was a small drawing of Riki's head with an X over it, most likely indicating that Riki was easily found out whenever she went down there to tape Rietta's dancing.

Speaking of Riki, she's trying to stick the key in the padlock, but her hands shaking too much to actually get it in. After several minutes have passed, she finally gets the key inside the lock. She opens up the door, and we nearly die at the amount of dust that has been accumulated in here. Despite it only have been a supposed month since the key was sent, Rietta must have avoided this room like the plague for a long time after she got her stuff in here.

We stumbled around for a bit in the dark, before Riki finally found the light switch, and flipped it on. The dance floor was surprisingly clean, and the dust seemed to be coming from the multitude of trophies and medals that were on shelves above the dancing mirrors on three of the walls... as well as the fourth wall, which had nothing but pictures of the two sisters, obviously taken from Riki's cameras that had been lying around in a box (which could be seen directly below the pictures, actually).

"...I gave her my cameras when she asked, but I didn't think she had taken the film out and had the pictures framed." Riki's muttering brought me out of my fantasizing.

"What do you mean? Didn't Rietta dislike you?" I tilt my head, and watch as Riki's face turns red, whether it's from embarrassment or anger, I don't know.

"...No, that might have only been at first. But..." Riki became silent for a moment, before speaking again, telling me a story that did not sound the least bit realistic.

* * *

_I ran down the stairs, determined to get Rietta's attention before she left for her study group with Keith. Whenever she'd come back from those, she'd usually be so frustrated that she wouldn't budge to any of my not-so-subtle attempts at getting her attention._

_"Riett~a! Wa~it!" I tripped at the very bottom step, which was incredibly lucky, now that I think about it. Rietta stopped at the door, before walking over and helping me get up._

_"What do you want?" Riki still sounded kind of angry, but it had gotten softer recently._

_I mustered up all of my confidence,"WILLYOUGOTOTHEAMUSEMENTPARKW ITHME?!"_

_There was a long period of silence, but finally Rietta answered. _

_"Yeah, sure, whatever. The two of us will go when I come back from Keith's." After that, Rietta left._

_I had expected her to say 'The three of us', which meant Lucas would be coming, but then I remembered that she had rejected him (possibly because I told her not to date him) a few months ago. This meant I had a chance, even if it was unlikely._

* * *

"...And? What happened?" Riki's face had gotten so red that I couldn't even imagine what had happened myself.

"...It's a se~cret." Riki laughed, before turning serious again.

"So, who the hell are you? You said you met Rietta, you know my mother hates her, and you know that she used to dislike me. Most importantly, you said she left. Where did she go?!" Riki shook me angrily, but stopped when she noticed that I was unable to speak like that.

I quickly explained to her who I was, and where Rietta was (I did not have a death wish). Riki seemed to get increasingly more furious as I talked. I covered my ears as soon as I was finished talking, because it looked like Riki was going to blow.

"YOU SENT HER TO A FAIRYTALE LAND WITH PRINCES?! RIETTA HATES FAIRYTALES!"

"I realize that now." I uncover my ears.

"HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET BACK, ANYWAY? DID YOU LEAVE HER THERE FOREVER?!"

I shook my head,"No, I have a key that'll help me get back home, but I have to leave a few days in advance, because I don't have Kip to guide me through the worlds."

"I will go with you. I want my Rietta!" I smile, loving how she said 'my'.

"Sure. We'll leave tomorrow."


	32. Chapter 17

_Beep. . . Beep. . .Beep. . ._

The sound of electronical hospital-monitor beeping jolts me awake, and I notice that

1. I'm in a_ fucking hospital_

and 2. My head hurts... and my arms, legs, and neck. Basically, my entire body aches. Oh, what a good blood vomiting can do for my body.

_I should really get to the Practice Hall. Luciano is probably waiting for me_. I gently pull all the needles out of my arms, put the bandages on them (they left them on the table. What a bunch of idiots), and sneaked out of the hospital. I can't even count how many times I've had to do this.

I had to sneak over to my room first, to grab some of my sunflower seeds. I peek inside the door, and see that Kip is not there, so I budge the door open and snatch a handful of seeds, hiding them inside a mini pouch I keep just for the seeds.

After getting my medicine, I sneak over to the Practice Hall. As expected, Luciano is inside, even though he couldn't possibly know that I was going to leave the hospital.

I pull down the sleeves of the dress I had changed into while I was in my room, and walk inside, waving my arm at Luciano.

"Morning Luci." He whirled around, and seemed to be bewildered that I was really there.

"W-what are you even doing here?! Shouldn't you be in bed-?" I cut him off by giving him my most murderous glare. If you live with Lucas for years, you can do it too!

"No, I'm fine. Let's start." I grab him, and we start doing the tango before he can protest any more. I look up at him when we're in the middle of the dance, and his face is that dark red it usually is. I decided to keep teasing him, and made us do a continuous dance of the tango.

After we finish, Luciano mumbles,"Want to go to the ocean? It could help you relax..."

"The ocean?...Sure, let's go!" I pull him along, humming. I think he forgot all~ about my mishap. Boys are so simple-minded.

When we finally arrive, I notice that the sky is lighter than it was the last time we came... Or was it? I don't even remember.

"The ocean looks nice today." I comment, just making some light conversation.

"Yeah, it does." He pauses. "You know, Riki. . ."

He looks at me, and he must have noticed how rigid my body became, because he suddenly switched gears.

"How do you feel practice is going?" Dancing subject, good. I can do this.

"It's great! I have not been able to dance in years, so this is a ton of fun for me."

"...Although I'm jealous of that confidence, I have to ask; Why are you so dead set on dancing? It's not like it's a required thing for royalty to do. Also, why did you suddenly quit? I've never heard of the Flower Kingdom's princess having danced beforehand."

_Shitshitshit- Me and my big mouth!_

I freeze up, and refuse to say anything. I know this will make him extremely suspicious, but I have no other options.

"...Well, it's been a long time for me, too. Dancing is pretty fun." Luciano smirks, and I let out my held breath in relief.

"Indeed. Practices can be difficult at times, but I enjoy them."

"Of course, you _are_ just an amateur!" I can feel the teasing tone in his voice, but I also think that was a comment on my blatant hints at how I'm different from the princess.

I smirk, and decide to turn the tables. "It's all your fault that it's hard, _Luciano_."

He holds up his hands. "Don't blame me for your poor stamina."

"Well, who is it that pushes me so hard?"

"It's not me."

"Yes it is."

"No, it's not."

"I know it is~"

Luciano opens his mouth to respond, but then he closes it and watches me for a moment, before breaking into a chuckle.

He turns to the ocean,"Well, there a probably a good deal of dancers beyond here that are great dancers... maybe even better than me."

"...Really? Somehow I don't believe that is true." He glances at me, something flickers in his eyes for just a moment.

"No, it's true. The world is a big place." He sits there, organizing his thoughts.

"...I need to go. See you tomorrow." Luciano got up and left, looking...sad?

Did something happen...?

_Oh well._

I get up and walk around, eventually ending up in Tango Garden.

Something near the entrance grabs my attention, and I realize that it's a Fortune Plant. My sister would play with those all the time.

_**I have to play...**_

I felt the extreme urge to play it, for some reason.

I pick it up, and pick off the petals one by one.

"Love."

"Love-not."

"Love."

"Love-not." The last petal stands alone, until I pluck it, letting it gently fall to the ground.

"...Love." So it's a perfect match.

_But who was I even doing this for?_

A specific two faces pop up in my mind, but I swat them away. Both are impossible, so I should just ignore this plant and go back home.

"PRINCESS! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

_I FORGOT ALL ABOUT KIP._

I scramble back to my room.


	33. Chapter 18

I wake up early again, but this time it's so Kip won't give me another three hour lecture. Man, he was **angry** at me for leaving.

He kept spewing stuff about how he didn't go to get me just so I could potentially kill my health and die. I didn't have the guts to tell him that my body wouldn't allow that.

I decide to hide out at the lake before practice, because it's nice and quiet, and there's a tree for me to hide in or behind.

_Or, at least, it __**was **__supposed to be quiet._

I spot Luciano staring at the lake. His back was towards me, but I could still tell he was depressed.

_Did he notice that he's not at the ocean?_

I decide to find out, since I don't have anything to do.

"Hey, Luci, what are you doing?" I speak in a loud whisper. I still don't want anyone to find me.

"...Oh, it's you, Riki. What do you want?" I leaned closer to see his face, since he didn't turn around.

"Did you mean to go to the ocean, but came to the lake instead?" He frowns.

"O-of course not!" His eye twitches, a tell-tale sign that he is a lying liar. It's so funny how both Luci and Lucas have signs that show when they're lying.

"Hey, Riki," Luciano's voice breaks me out of my thoughts,"Do you want to go to Tango Garden?"

I remember what transpired at the garden yesterday, and I feel my neck heat up just a tiny bit. Why is it doing that, that should not be happening. It is not summer.

"...Sure." Luciano's face glows brighter for just a moment.

"Great."

Luckily, it doesn't take that long to get there, because it's right next to the lake.

I become mesmerized by the sunflowers, watching them sway back and forth in the wind. Soon, however, I note that it's been too quiet, even for Luciano and I. I look over at him... but he's not there. I look around, but only see the gardeners that take care of the flowers.

That's pretty bad, losing your dance partner in a _flower garden_.

I decide that I may as well look around for him, since if he came back, and saw that I wasn't still there, things would get really awkward during dance practice.

After asking about a dozen different gardeners if they'd seen him, and getting asked five different times if he was my boyfriend (stupid old timers), I still hadn't located Luciano. I notice one more person (how did I not see them?) crouching near the flowers, and I jog up to them.

"Hello, have you seen a lost, grumpy looking guy? He's pretty tall, has black hair, angry amber eyes-"

"Who's lost?" Luciano looks down at me, amusement all over his face. It suddenly occurs to me that most of the things I said could be taken as insults.

"Oh.. uh, nobody. Where'd you go?"

"I was looking for this." Luciano pulls out a flower from the flower bed, making me wonder if that is just something anyone can do, or if it's a privilege only for royalty.

"What is it?" .

"It symbolizes good luck in my kingdom. It's for you." He holds it out, before deciding to just tuck it in my hair.

I was slightly touched, and almost thanked him before he continued.

"Hopefully it works, you have terrible luck." He smirks, and then laughs at my expression, before dragging us to the practice hall.

This time, Luciano forces me to practice the Carmen in front of him, instead of me practicing it in the Dance Hall. This seems pretty sick, but whatever.

It was actually pretty lonely to not dance with somebody, but the good part was Luciano saying that I had a talent for this... whatever that means. I hope he meant dancing.

After that the two of us practice the Carmen together twice, before Kip shows up, and drags me out the door.

Before Kip can get me out the door, I hear Luciano say "The Founding Festival is tomorrow. It'd be great if the two of us were chosen."

Figuring the 'Founding Festival' is like President's day, I laugh.

"Yeah, that'd be fun."


	34. Chapter 19: DECISIONS DUN DUN DUNNNN

Kip shakes my tangled up body, trying to push off the covers.

"Princess! Wake up! Don't you know what day it is?"

"International Sleep Day?"

"No."

"Stay Inside Day?"

"No..."

"...Then, is it Go Away Kip Day?" I got a smack on the head for that, but it was worth it.

"No! What's with you wanting to stay inside all of a sudden?!"

I lied there, not willing to answer that.

I wasn't able to sleep because I was thinking over how my stay here has been, specifically... certain people.

_...Wait. The day is... let's see... Christmas was nine days ago... so.._

I count on my hands under the covers. I'm right, it **is** _that day._

"Geez, it's the Founding Festival today!"

"...Oh, yeah. Doesn't a pair of dancers get chosen for that?"

"Actually... that's why this is so urgent. I have a message from King Crown!" Kip pulls out a mini mouse-sized letter. I wonder if he had a mouse attendant himself, otherwise that'd be a bitch to write.

_**Dear Riki,**_

_**You seem to be working hard on your dancing lately. Maybe it's because you have Prince Luciano as your partner? (Hohohoho)**_

_**Anyway, I want you two to dance at the Founding Festival's big finale.**_

_**I know you won't let me down!**_

_**Love,**_

_**King Crown**_

"Huhuhu!" Kip gives a creepy laugh.

"Oh, so her dad's putting the pressure on her... who is actually me right now."

_Knock Knock Knock_

I can hear the impatient knocking of somebody who can only be Luciano, since Lucas does not have any reason to be here. After only a few minutes of waiting, Luciano just walks right in. That would be pretty bad if I liked not wearing pants when I'm sleeping, but luckily, I do, so it's not a problem.

"Did you hear?"

"First of all, you should've waited until Kip or I let you in, what if I hadn't even been dressed? Secondly, do you mean about us dancing for the festival?"

He stands there, his face slowly changing from thinking, to realization, to flushed horror. He coughs, and disregards the first statement.

"T-That's right. We were chosen, isn't that great?" He laughs awkwardly.

"...You're not nervous? Not even the tiniest bit?" He stops, and looks at me funnily.

"About what?"

"...The finale. What the hell did you think I meant?"

"..Nothing, that's what I thought, too." He shrugs. "Well, I'm a little nervous, but it's no use worrying."

He changes gears, and smirks. "More importantly, it's been a while since I've danced in front of a big crowd. It's kind of exciting."

He looks so childish, I can't help myself from bursting out into ridiculous laughter. As I laugh, I realize that I haven't **really** laughed in a few years, let alone as myself.

"...Princess, are you ok? You're face is turning purple. You should stop laughing, and go enjoy the festival before the finale!" Kip shoves the two of us out the door, and I nearly trip and fall, but Luciano wraps his arm around my waist before I fall.

I look up at him, and can't help but see the childish Luciano again, so I start laughing again, except it's a quieter laugh this time.

"Well, you're in a good mood today. Let's go, the party is in Jive Park." Luciano takes my hand, and leads me towards the park. I don't know how, but we get there with almost no incidences; the only ones involved the girls that admire Luciano that wanted to know if we're 'involved'. I don't even want to know what that means.

When we get there, though, the reality of the situation finally hits me.

I'm going to be dancing in front of a huge crowd of **royalty**. One of which is my "dad", and he expects me to not fuck this up at all.

But, no pressure.

None.

I feel the blood creeping up my throat, but I try to keep it down and buy a bottle of water. Luciano must have noticed how uncomfortable I look, because he pats my shoulder and has us sit down on a bench just barely big enough for the two of us.

"You should try taking deep breaths, it could help."

That actually sounded like a good idea, so I took in as much air as I could, but I choked on the blood in my throat, and started coughing violently. Luckily, none of the blood came out, so Luciano wasn't aware of what was going on.

"Maybe that was too deep of a breath. Stay here, I'll be right back." Luciano got up, and walked away to the stalls that had opened up in a section of the park. I could see more girls stop him, but he yelled at them and left them in the cold.

When he returned, he held out a small package of sunflower seeds. I look at them, then at Luciano. He sighs and sits down beside me, opening the bag.

"You look too pale to just be nervous." He passed me the bag, and waited for me to finish them.

_So he __**did**__ notice..._

Directly after I finish the bag off, Kip pops up.

"It's almost time! The two of you need to get over there **now**!"

Luciano gets up, and holds out a hand for me to grab,"All right! Let's go, Riki."

My eye twitched, I hate how much I have to hear THAT name, when I came here to escape that.

"...Right."

When we get to the Dance Hall, the extreme anxiety I always get during these events comes back, but since I'm performing for royalty, it's become tenfold. Luckily, I won't be vomiting blood today, thanks to Luciano.

Nonetheless, I'm fucking paranoid right now.

"Princess, stop fidgeting. I need to fix your hair!" Kip scolds me, before yanking my short hair into a low ponytail. I stare into the large mirror, almost... relieved to see the ponytail. It took me a long time to grow my hair back after it was almost all cut off, and it seems that they didn't cut off too much when they gave me a haircut in the hospital. That's lucky, since the last hospital I was in was the one that cut all my hair off.

"Aaaaand...done! Take a look!" Kip pulled off the black wrap thing he had placed on me, and I finally took notice of the fact that he had changed my clothes via accessory while I was being all nostalgic. The dress was a shade of magenta, and had the sign of Aries on it, which was funny, since I'm a Capricorn.

"Are you two done yet?" Luciano pops into the dressing room, executing once again how little he seems to realize about modern day things... although, this place is basically one of those stupid hicktown fairytales my sister loved.

"Ah... yes." I stand up, and stumble towards him. These heels are _hell_ to wear, and I hate Kip so much at this moment. I trip right as I reach him, smacking my face right into his chest...again.

"Sorry." I push myself off of him, but he wraps his arm around my shoulder.

"Hey, Kip. I don't think she'll be able to dance like this."

Kip gazes at the two of us for several moments, before pulling out a different accessory. It takes me two minutes to recognize the incomplete necklace that Luciano gave me. Kip pushes Luciano out, and helps me put on the necklace. After that is done, I take the seashell hair-clip out of my hair, and snap it back onto the necklace.

Instantly, the necklace transforms my dress into a nice little blue one. Much better, and more 'me'.

Luciano and Kip come back in, and stare at me for a short second, before dragging me out towards the dance floor. I take in the sight of all the people, and the pressure is nearly killing me.

King Crown stands up, and the hall turns silent within seconds.

"And now, what we've all been waiting for! A dance between our very own Princess Riki and Prince Luciano! Let the dance begin!"

The hall immediately fills up with excited chattering as we set the music, and wait for the music to begin.

I didn't even know what song was picked, but when _Carmen_ came on, I instantly knew that it was probably Luciano who picked it.

As we danced, Luciano was commenting on what specific people were doing under his breath, obviously trying to help keep me focused. It took all my self control not to break into hysterical laughter, what he was saying was meanly funny.

I hadn't even noticed when the two of us had stopped, because we were still quietly chatting. The only big hint that we were done was that everyone burst into really loud applause, and some seemed to be crying (maybe this dance has a special meaning?). The king came up to us, and rubbed my hair, while also patting Luciano on the shoulder.

"You two were wonderful! Here's your reward!" He places a gold necklace with rubies in it.

This surprises me.

You get rewarded if you dance well for events? Not just competitions?

Not only that, but my _'father'_ gave it to me, and even told me I did a good job. That is way more than my mother has ever done for me, and I feel a huge weight leave my shoulders. I look back up at my 'dad', and grin.

"Thank you! This really means a lot!" _More than you'll ever know!_

King Crown and Luciano gape at me, surprised by the sudden change in my attitude. The King stumbles away, and Luciano stands there, moving awkwardly.

"You were perfect..." He halts, before speaking again, quieter this time,"Y-You know, Riki..."

I will never know what he was going to say after that, because the Doggy Guard from the castle came over towards us in a hurry, and spoke urgently to Luciano.

"Prince Luciano, do you have a moment?" There was an implied tone of _you have no choice, speak with me right now_. Luciano radiated irritation.

"What is it?" The dog leans in, and whispers into his ear. Luciano's eyes widen, and he turns back to me.

"Sorry, Riki. I have to go, I'll see you tomorrow-maybe!" Leaving that vague comment behind, Luciano runs off.

"...I wonder what happened." Kip popped up.

"It was probably a message of congratulations! You two were really good! Now, let's get back to your room, you're probably tired."

Kip hustles me back to my room, apparently having been trying to avoid the large crowd of admirers that were waiting outside. Fortunately, they didn't notice us.

"Mmm... what a day. Time for bed..." I yawned, just about to crawl into bed, when...

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

The knocking was much more urgent than last time, but since it wasn't a mob (they would not bother with knocking), I opened the door.

"Grrr... Who comes to the princess's room this late at night..." I grumble as I open the door, but I stop speaking when I notice that it's just Luciano.

"Oh, it's you, Luci. What's up?"

Luciano just stands there, looking dejected.

"...What's wrong?"

"...I've received an order from Garadium Kingdom." It takes me a few minutes to remember that Luciano is from that place, and I nod.

"And?"

"...They want me to return home to perform in the World Dance Competition."

"Oh? That's awesome, you get to do two competitions in the first month of the year." Luciano shakes his head.

"No, I have to leave tomorrow. I don't know if I'll be able to make it back in time for the ball this year."

The reality of the situation crashes down upon me, and I realize that everything could change depending on how I respond.

* * *

**This is where the endings branch off.**


	35. Ending 1: Luciano

**JUST A NOTE: Rietta is only referred to as Rietta when she's not in 'disguise'. Otherwise she is referred to as 'Riki'.**

**Long chapter lovers, this is your feast!**

* * *

"...All right, I understand. Good luck in the World Dance Competition." Luciano and Kip gape at Riki, not trying to mask their surprise at all.

"Wh-What? You're fine with him going?!" Kip shrieks.

Riki shrugs,"Yeah, these things happen. After all, an order is an order, especially if it came from your parents."

"...You'll cheer for me?" Luciano asks quietly. Riki pats him on the shoulder.

"Of course I will...but," This catches the attention of Luciano, "at least try to come back on the last day, even if it's after the competition."

"What? Why?" Riki gives him a stern look, and he gulps. "Ok, ok, fine. I'll try to make it back by that day."

"Good... now I'm going to have to take something of yours to make sure of that!" Riki unbuttons his jacket, swipes it, and shoves Luciano out of the room.

"I'll come see you off tomorrow, okay?" Riki shouts, to make sure he can hear her from outside.

There is no response, so Riki thinks it's safe to release her anger. She grabs several fragile objects and chucks them at the wall, shattering them into a million pieces. When her hand touches the sunflower figurine, she stops, and holds it in her hand.

"This is the angriest I've been since Riki died..." 'Riki' sighs, squeezing the figurine fondly.

"...What? Riki died...? A-Aren't you Riki?!" Kip's skin goes white, and he stares at the girl who he's taken care of for eighteen days. Rietta lets out a string of curses, she had forgotten Kip was even there. The damn mouse was such a wallflower.

"Shut up, Kip. I need you to go get me something from the market." Rietta grabs a pack of paper, and scribbles something on it before tossing it at Kip.

Kip catches it, and runs out of the room. Rietta sighs, and collapses on the bed.

"Tomorrow is going to be a huge pain in my ass." Rietta rolls over, and stares at the jacket lying beside her.

_Well, at least I got __**something**__ for my birthday._ Rietta grabs the jacket, and shoves her face into it, before slipping into sleep.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rietta ruffles her hair up in front of the mirror, checking the color one last time to make sure it's the right shade of black, before tying it into her signature low ponytail. She takes out the color contacts she's been wearing, and stares at her reflection.

_It's nice to be me again, I guess._ Rietta turns and walks out of the bathroom, and throws on a blue shirt, a long black skirt, and Luciano's jacket. After she grabbed a letter she had written for him, she left the room, and made her way to the beach, which is where they have their airport, apparently.

_I'm surprised they even have an airport._ Rietta snorts, loving all the weird looks she get's from all the people she passes, no longer worrying about her social anxiety now that she's not in disguise.

She finally arrives at the airport, and it doesn't take her even half a second to find Luciano: he's surrounded by a bunch of sad girls bawling their eyes out, and saying how terrible it is that he's leaving, and how dare his dance partner not show up. Rietta approaches them, and Luciano stares at her, recognition dawning on his face when he see's his jacket, but he doesn't say anything.

"Here, this is for you, from your girlfriend." Rietta tosses it over the crowd, and it lands directly in his hand. "Good luck at your competition."

With this, Rietta turns and walks away, leaving the crowd and Luciano bewildered at what just occurred.

After this, Rietta goes to the Dance Hall, which is usually empty on non-event related days, and practices her dancing, intent on keeping her promise to the Princess.

During practice, Rietta learned the Voices of Spring, which she thought was lovely. She would have loved to dance it with Luciano, but she remembered that he was probably not here anymore.

_I hope he does well. . ._ She thinks to herself, as she walks home. When she got there, she saw that there was a package in front of her door. Rietta leaned down and grabbed it, and walked into the house.

She sits on the bed, and opens it up, and inside is a note on top of something that's all wrapped up.

She reads the note:

_**To Princess Riki,**_

_** I found this lying on the ground after yesterdays festivities, and I suppose it's yours, since it's so sparkly. If it's not yours, keep it anyway, it suits you.**_

_**Guard Dog of the Castle**_

"...Uh, great... I guess. I'll keep it for sometime in the future." Rietta stuffs it back into the box, and crawls under the covers.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_All I did was practice my dancing one time, and then suddenly there was a swarm of people asking me who I was, if I'm single, etc._ They all left quickly when she told them that my lover was dead. _Haha, what a bunch of morons, believing a lie...although it was partly true._

After she danced a few more times, Kiefer popped up, surprising the shit out of Rietta.

She yelped, and jumped in the air slightly. "God damn! What do you want?!...I don't even know you!"

Kiefer's eyes narrow, and he looks Rietta up and down. "...You **are** the girl who was impersonating the princess, right?"

Rietta moves a step back, startled. _Oh __**shit**__! I forgot that Keith was always able to see right through me! It's the reason why he made sure he was in the same class as me when I masqueraded as Riki!_

"...Fine, I am. What do you want, Kiefer?" She huffs.

Kiefer is surprised, but doesn't show it on his face.

_...I didn't think that bluff would actually work._

"...Well, a name would be nice." Rietta reaches out her hand.

"My name's Rietta, but if you tell anybody about me being the princess, I will fucking kill you." From the coldness in her eyes, Kiefer did not doubt that. He shook her hand, not needing to give his name when she already knew it.

"Fine." The two stared at each other, until Kiefer asked the question he actually wanted to ask.

"...Is dancing fun?" Rietta gave him a look that said **'oh my god you're so stupid why am I associating with you'**.

Rietta sighed, and collected her thoughts for a few moments, before giving her reply. "It depends on who you are, really. The princess hated it, but I love it. My sister loved watching, so in a way, she loved dancing too..."

Kiefer watched her eyes glaze over, before nodding,"You're probably right...Well, goodbye."

Rietta watches him leave, and smacks her palm to her face.

_No matter what world I'm in, Kiefer/Keith will always be my best friend, and I love him and all (in that platonic way); but jesus christ, would it kill him to stop asking me the weirdest questions and then leaving?_

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_Rietta was floating in a sea of darkness._

_This is not an usual dream for her to have, since she dreamed of this often back home._

_Rietta sighs, and is about to wake herself up, when she hears something._

"Wake up, Princess!"

_"...What? Who's there?"_

"Princess! Prince Kiefer is here to see you!" Kip shakes the cocoon the girl slept in.

Rietta sits up, and rubs her eyes, yawning. Kip takes one glance at her before doing a double take, and covering his eyes, blushing a deep crimson.

"D-Dear lord, Princess! Did you go to bed like that?!"

"...?" Rietta, confused, looked down and saw that she was wearing Luciano's jacket over her undergarments... but that was it. She blinked, before sinking back into her covers, making her way to the closet. She crawls into it and gets dressed in the closet. After being fully clothed, she climbs back out, and coughs into her hand.

"Uh...you didn't see that. Now, where is Kiefer?" Kip, uncovering his eyes, floats over to the door and lets in Kiefer.

If he had heard anything during that time period, he sure as hell wasn't dumb enough to say anything.

"Mornin' Kiefer." Kiefer nods back in greeting.

"You seem tired." He looked at the dark circles under her eyes, and wondered how nobody noticed it before.

"Ah...I was sleeping well until recently... but then the blackness came back... so.. yeah."

Kiefer didn't exactly know how to respond to that. "...You should go back to bed, you really don't look too well."

He **was** going to ask if she wanted to go dance with him, but he highly doubted that Rietta was in the right state of mind for dancing right now.

Rietta yawns, crawls back into the closet, and pops back out in her cocoon, her clothing underneath questionable.

"You're right, Kiefer. G'night." She curls up on the ground, and soft snoring can be heard afterwards. Kiefer scratches his head, and walks out, quietly shutting the door behind him.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_Rietta looks around, once again stuck in the dark sea._

_"This is getting ridiculous..." Right as she was raising her hand to smack herself awake, Rietta thought she heard something..._

_". . .s. . ." __**That singsong voice... **__Rietta turns around in circles, but doesn't see anything in the black fog._

_"Who's there?" She squints, hoping to see better._

_". . .here. . ." Rietta sees a faint light, and takes a few steps forward, but she just ends up spinning around like there's no gravity._

_"Shit-GOD DAMNIT!" Rietta curses, deciding that swimming might do better._

"HEY PRINCESS GET UP!"

Rietta feels something extremely heavy pushing her deeper into the bed, and shoves aside all the covers. After seeing that it's only a stupid box full of heavy jewelry, she glares, looking around for that damned mouse.

"What do you want?!" Rietta growled.

"...Do you want to play a game?" Kip shrinks back sheepishly, realizing that waking up the angry girl was not the right course of action.

Rietta looks at the clock, and sees that it's around noon.

"Shit-It's already this late?!" Rietta jumps out of bed, and changes into another blue shirt and long skirt, running out the door before Kip has the chance to tell her that there's no practice today.

* * *

Rietta stares blankly at the sign on the doors to the Practice Hall.

_**NO PRACTICE TODAY BECAUSE OF HOLIDAY**_

"...What? They have holidays _without_ dancing, too?" She sighs, and looks over at the Dance Hall.

"...I wonder if the door's unlocked..." Rietta walks nonchalantly over to it, and casually tries to open the doors. After a few failed attempts, she decides to just stop trying to be polite and kicks the doors open. Luckily, nobody's around, so Rietta just dances in peace.

_Everyone must be in bed sleeping... lucky bastards. God I hate Kip._

Today, Rietta decided to dance the Turkish March.

_It was great, lots of twirling around (sarcasm). I would like to dance more than twice, but the twirling really gets to my head after continual swirling._

Rietta returned back to her (kind of) home, and saw Kip floating around, not doing anything. The second his eyes landed on her, he flew right up in her face.

"Want to play the game now?!" Rietta smacks him into the opposite side of the room, and then considers his offer.

"...What kind of game?" Sensing that he had successfully baited her, Kip grins that creepy grin.

"It's a rhyming game. I'll start. . ."

(It continued for the rest of the day. Rietta regretted every second of it.)

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rietta decided to take a walk around the Forest part of the kingdom, but she didn't find anything interesting. She had the extra energy because she was able to sleep peacefully last night.

After her walk, Rietta resumed her dance practice at the Dance Hall. She had scheduled American Patrol today... why they had an American dance is beyond her.

Rietta felt her good night sleep really help her dance, because she was able to spend two hours dancing. Also, she felt like she would reach her full potential sometime in the future. That'd be nice, then she could go abroad to dance once she...returns...home...

Rietta stops in the middle of her dance, and stares at the floor.

_...That's right. I have to return back home after the ball, don't I?_

Her eyes narrowed, and her expression turned sour. That did not sound the least bit pleasant, except for the opportunity to see Keith again. She hoped he was okay without her, he had a tendency of being clingy in the winter.

Rietta sighs, and returns home.

Kip greets her, but she walks right on past her, and into the bathroom. Rietta turns on the bath water, and strips off her clothes, gazing into the water.

Not liking what she sees, she smacks her hand in the water a few times, setting ripples in the water, before just plunging into the bathtub.

_The princess has a nice bathtub. It's really spacious._

Rietta raises one of her feet into the air, and lays back, sinking into relaxation.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 24. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rietta woke up with a shudder, was it cold in here, or was it just her? She looked around, and noticed that this was not the bedroom... but the bathroom.

_Oh shit, did I fall asleep? Fuck, Kip's going to be pissed at me._

Just as expected, she can hear Kip pounding on the door. After wrapping a towel around herself, Rietta opens the door, only to be assaulted by Kip right in the face.

"Princess! What the hell were you thinking?! You can't just sleep in the bath water! Now you probably caught a cold or something! Get dressed and lay down in bed, right now! No dance practice for you!" Kip pushes some clothes in her hands, and covers his eyes to let her change.

"Sorry, Kip. I must have been just so comfortable that I fell asleep without noticing it..." Rietta sighed, and looked at the pajamas that Kip had given her. They were a dark red, with little teddy bears all over them. Rietta just wanted to punch him right in the face, how did he think that she'd like these?

_Though, I guess they __**are**__ kind of warm._ Rietta sighs, and crawls into bed.

"You have to get plenty of rest! You have a dance competition in two days, and what are you going to do about your hair and eyes? The princess doesn't look a thing like you."

"Well, that's because her other self was only my half-sister, and I take after my dad." Rietta yawns, and falls asleep before Kip can get any more information out of her.

_What kind of person did you pick up, Princess?_ Kip sighs, and tucks the girl in.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_Even though it had been two days since she had been here, Rietta was back inside the deep, dark black space._

_The faint light was still there, and Rietta instigated her plan of swimming there. Sadly, no matter how much effort she put into moving, she didn't feel like she was progressing at all, but the light was getting closer._

_". . .Come closer. . ." Rietta huffed, and tried pushing herself harder._

_"Why don't __**you**__ come to __**me**__?! That'd make things loads easier!"_

_The voice did not respond to this, but it seemed like it was listening, because the light was rapidly approaching now. Rietta felt a feeling of warmth wash over her, and was blinded by a bright light..._

"Princess, wake up. It's time for your medicine." She tastes some kind of gross liquid, and opens her eyes to see the pink bottle in Kip's hand, and when she tries to knock it out of his hands, Rietta realizes that her hands have been restrained.

"Yeah, I know this tastes horrible. The princess doesn't like it either, so I took precautions and tied your hands up. You have similar tastes, for being two separate people." Kip smirks at the evil scowl on Rietta's face. Indeed, they are quite similar.

After taking her medicine, Rietta slipped into a long nap for a few hours, and then woke up, feeling refreshed. She sneaked out of the house, Kip had gone out (probably), and went to the Practice Hall, where Kip would never think she'd go (she hasn't been there since Luciano left).

"Ah...who are you?" Rietta whipped around, and was relieved to see that it was just Tony. It had been a (REALLLY) long time since she'd last seen him, so she had difficulty recognizing him at first.

"...I'm a guest of Princess Riki's. She invited me to the Ball in Saint-Lyon." Rietta could see a few stragglers in the corner who were soaking this up. No doubt everyone would know where she was staying soon.

"...Oh. Come to think of it, I haven't seen her in a few days. Have you seen her?" Rietta flinches slightly, not having planned for that.

"...Uh." Rietta's eyes dart around, before spewing out anything, "She was upset that Luciano left for the World Dance Competition, so she left to go watch him perform. What's the point of practicing if your dance partner leaves?"

Tony and the stragglers all nod in agreement, and Rietta knows she's got them wrapped around her finger. She reaches back and adjusts her ponytail, making sure it's tight.

"Anyway, I came to practice...secretly. Do you have a basement or something? Kip can't know I'm here." Tony leads her to a spot in the back that she hadn't noticed before, even though she had often gone in the back room to get water for her and Luciano. Tony hands her a speaker to use for her dancing music, and leaves Rietta to herself.

When she's done, Rietta starts coughing from all the dust. When was the last time Tony cleaned this damn basement?

Usually this coughing would be because of her illness, but ever since the Founding Festival Rietta had been feelings tons better.

Covering her mouth, Rietta makes her way up the stairs, and opens the door to see Kip talking to Tony at the door. Tony wasn't even trying to help keep him busy, that son of a bitch.

_If there was a back door, that would be great. _But of course, there isn't.

Kip drags Rietta back to bed, and scolds her until sunset.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 26. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_When Rietta opened her eyes, she was not in the darkness, but in a sea of flowers... sunflowers, to be specific._

_"What the..." Rietta mutters, as she looks around. There's nobody in sight, and the wind is not blowing._

_"Did you come to play?" An angel floats right in front of her eyes, and Rietta falls backwards from the shock. The angel was a girl much smaller than her, and looked oddly familiar... but Rietta was unable to put a name to her._

_"...No, I didn't." The little girl frowned, and sighed._

_"You're so boring! Can't you just get over it already?" The girl flicked Rietta right between the eyes, inflicting a good deal of pain. Rietta tried to exact revenge, but the girl floated just high enough that she was unable to reach._

_**What is she talking about? **_

_The girl's eyes widened,"Do you not know who I am?"_

_Rietta was ju~st about to take a closer look, when. . ._

"Hey...Rietta! Wake up!" Rietta growled in her half-sleep, wanting to smack whoever was trying to wake her up. She was just about to find out who that damned angel was, god damnit!

"No... I wanna sleep longer..." The unknown disturber of sleep huffed, and shook her several times.

"Come to Jive Park, quick!"

"...What...Why?" Rietta was smacked upside the head.

"Just do it!" She heard the door open and close, and sat up straight.

"...I want to murder whoever that was." Rietta throws on her usual attire, and stomped over to Jive Park.

When Rietta arrived at Jive Park, she realized how fucking **early** it was. the sun had barely risen, and almost nobody was out and about yet. Rietta looked around, and saw a really suspicious looking cloaked figure approach her.

"About time!" Concluding that this person was the one who woke her up, Rietta pulled back her arm to punch the shitty stranger in the face, but is stopped when she notices the familiar face. The cloaked figure, realizing that they looked incredibly suspicious, took off their cloak... and it was actually the real princess the entire time! **(GASP)**

"Long time no see~ Were you surprised?" Princess Riki erupted into a fit of giggles, making Rietta unable to get angry at her.

"No... Well, yes, but it was mostly because it's so early. What are you doing here?"

Princess Riki looks away,"...Sorry. I was just wondering how you were doing. It's almost the day of the ball, y'know?"

Rietta nods, and the princess continues talking.

"So...How's this world? Are you enjoying yourself?" Rietta mulled over her thoughts.

_Am I enjoying myself?..._

Rietta thinks of the few friends she's made (Luciano, Liam, Kiefer,...maybe Vince), the fun she's had (dancing with Luciano, making fun of Luciano)...Luciano.

Feeling her face heat up, Rietta covers her mouth with one of her hands. "...Yeah, it's pretty nice here. Most of the princes are cool, I've made a few friends... I just want to strangle Kip, though."

Princess Riki's face lights up. "Yeah! I totally get it! He's always hovering around you, saying things like 'You have to get up now!' or 'Go to dance practice!'!"

Rietta chuckles, and the princess, encouraged by Rietta's reaction, keeps mocking Kip.

" 'You can't be a proper Queen with that kind of attitude!' " The two of them erupt into laughter, shedding a few tears from laughing so hard. They hear a bush rustle, and stop abruptly, looking at a suspiciously moving bush.

The princess motions Rietta to go take a look, and Rietta pounces on the bush, dragging out... Isabel?

"What...?" The two princesses (albeit one is fake) say simultaneously, freaking the shit out of Isabel.

"W-What?! How do you two sound the same?!" The two girls are startled at that, they hadn't noticed how similar they talked... although, since Rietta had lived like Riki for years, it was to be expected.

_Oh...shit._

Princess Riki freaked out,"T-This isn't what it looks like! It's not like I brought her from another world to dance for me in the competition or anything!"

Rietta facepalmed. _Oh my god. She's just as shitty at lying as Lucas. Isabel probably wasn't even thinking that until you said it!_

Just as Rietta expected, Isabel stopped freaking out. "...What?"

Realizing her mistake, the princess smacked a hand over her mouth. "Nothing!"

Rietta growled,"You just told her everything, you moron!"

Isabel smirked, and started speaking in a singsong voice,"I know! I know! I know your se~cret! I heard everything!...So that's why the princess suddenly got better at dancing!"

The princess grabbed Isabel by the shoulders,"Please! Isabel, could you PLEASE keep this a secret?!"

Isabel shook her off and started skipping away slowly,"I'm sorry, I can't do that! You think I can keep this hot story all to myself without telling ANYONE?!"

After that, Isabel leaves them in the dust.

Princess Riki shrieks,"Oh my god! This is terrible! If someone finds out that you impersonated me, you could go to jail! And I'll be in huge trouble!"

Rietta shushes her. "Shhh! Don't be so loud! Go back to your room, I'll find Isabel and do something about it."

"Eh?! What about the competition?!" Rietta frowns, and pushes the princess away.

"...I'll do something about it. Now go!" She watches the princess run off, and then turns to the direction she saw Isabel go...Rumba Beach.

* * *

Once Rietta arrives at Rumba Beach, she instantly regrets coming here first.

Why?

"Oh, hello there little kitten!"

_Oh, joy, Cesar is here. (heavy sarcasm)_

"...Hello." Cesar made a weird face.

"What's the matter? You look kind of breathless...but I already know why!" Rietta takes a few steps backwards, ready to dash away.

_Oh shit, did Isabel tell him already?_

"To come running after me all the way out to the beach... are you that in love with me?" Rietta stands there staring at him for a few minutes, running his words through her head several times.

"...Um, what? No, that's not it." Cesar's face falls.

"It's not?"

"I'm looking for Isabel, have you seen her?" Cesar takes a closer look at her... and smiles.

"Yeah, she was just here a few minutes ago, and I called out to her, but she ran away from me for some reason. I saw her head for Samba Square." Cesar points out the direction she went, being under the impression that Rietta is a newcomer... since that's what Rietta had told everyone.

"Really? Thanks a bunch, Cesar!" She runs off in the appropriate direction, leaving Cesar behind.

_I'm surprised he wasn't the asshole he usually is._

* * *

When Rietta gets to Samba Square, the first thing she sees is Lauren and Brenda having a tug-of-war with Klaus. She does not give a single shit, and taps Lauren on the shoulder.

"Hey! You there!" The three of them turn to see the black-haired girl of the rumors. Lauren and Brenda scoot closer to Klaus, ready to abscond if necessary.

"What do you want?!"

"Are you going to steal him, too?!"

_Oh shit, they are pissed at me. Why?_

Rietta decides to stop this bullshit once and for all. "You two! What the hell are you thinking, how are you supposed to be partners if you don't listen to each other at all? Being dance partners requires time and effort, as well as cooperation!"

The three of them stood there, in an awed silence, before Klaus removes himself from the two.

"Thank you, miss. Because of you, I've realized something important..."

Rietta raises an eyebrow,"Oh yeah? What?"

"I'm going to go try and make up with Cynthia!" Klaus runs off, and Rietta almost feels sorry for Cynthia, having such a stupid guy for a love interest.

She watches him run away. _Yeah, if only things could always be that easy..._

Remembering what she was even there for, Rietta turns to the two girls. "Oh yeah, have you girls seen Isabel?"

Lauren turned her nose up at Rietta, apparently scorned by how Rietta scolded them. "Maybe... but why should I tell you?"

"Because I'm in a big hurry? Please tell me if you know?!" Lauren stared at her, before giving her a small smile.

"She went towards Jive Park." Rietta thanked the girl, and ran off.

_Maybe Lauren is a nice girl after all..._

* * *

Rietta returns to Jive Park, and is starting to get angry. Hasn't she already chased her around once before?

She rips through all the bushes, hoping to find that little bitch somewhere in them. She feels a presence behind her, but she can also already tell who it is.

"Is that you, Rietta?...What are you doing?" Rietta whirls around, and grabs Kiefer by the shoulders.

"Kiefer!"

"...What's the matter? You don't look too sane." Rietta decides to let that slide.

"Have you seen that fucking Isabel?!"

"...Isabel? That girl from weeks ago?...I guess I did see her by the castle..." Rietta nods.

"The castle? Thanks! See you later!" Rietta smacks his shoulder and runs off.

_Good ol' Kiefer!_

* * *

Finally, Rietta gets into the castle. Oddly, there's almost nobody here.

_Where are all the guards?_

"What is it, miss?" That stupid Dog Guard came up to her, almost making Rietta forget why she was even there.

"...Oh! I'm looking for Isabel, have you seen her?"

"...Oh, that girl famous for causing everyone trouble? She was running towards the lake." The guard takes out a map, and points out the lake.

_I hate how everyone thinks I don't know where the hell I'm going._

"Thanks so much!" Rietta bows to him briefly before running off.

It'd be a bad idea to make the guard think she has no manners (and she kind of doesn't, but whatever).

* * *

When Rietta arrives at Viennese Waltz Lake, she takes a moment to soak in the scenery, before being dragged out of her daze by the annoying voice of Vince.

"Oh, hi! What's the matter?"

_...This is a huge pain in my ass. Why can't everyone be like Kiefer?_

"Oh, hey there, have you seen Isabel?" She speaks quickly, hoping to not be sidetracked by yet **another** conversation.

Vince stops talking, and looks (almost) thoughtful for a moment. "Isabel, huh? I passed her at the Tango Garden entrance. It's right over there." Vince pointed out the garden, despite it being in plain view.

"'Kay, thanks. Bye!" Rietta ran off, despite hearing Vince trying to get her attention.

_You may have helped me, but I still hate you for what Victor did to Riki!_

* * *

Seeing Liam the moment she enters the garden, Rietta makes a straight path for him.

"Liam! Hey, Liam, have you seen Isabel?!" Rietta shouts at him, fully ignoring the fact that she should not know Liam's name at that moment.

"...? W-What? I just saw Isabel run through that patch of skunk vine over there." Liam points out the plant, despite being confused on who the girl before him is.

"Thanks! Bye!" Rietta runs off, ignoring all the bullshit that should have happened at that moment.

* * *

Since she highly doubted that Isabel went to Cha-Cha arena, the Practice Hall, or the princess's room, Rietta went straight for the Dance Hall. She didn't even have to look around (which is good, because she ran out of guys to give her directions), because she spotted Isabel in the crowd!

Unfortunately, as she made her way over to Isabel, Kip came and dragged Rietta away, despite her protests.

* * *

"Aaaaand... done! Now you look like the princess again!" Kip finished the final touches on Riki's wig, because she refused to dye her hair again.

"That's cool and all... but who am I dancing with? Luciano isn't here."

Kip stares at her in silence, seeming to have forgotten this small, yet important detail.

"...I guess you could just dance with Tony?" Tony immediately pops up.

"You called?" Kip and Riki let out a small yelp.

"...Oh, it's just Tony. Do you think you could be my dance partner, just for today...?" Rietta tried to do the eyes thing that Riki would always do when she had something that she wanted from Rietta.

"Of course, Princess. It's no problem, just enjoy yourself." Kip sighs.

"I feel like something's missing."

* * *

Not wanting to do any of the twirling or romantic dances with a fucking rabbit, Riki sets up American Patrol music. She also decides that wearing a witch costume is the right choice when dancing with a stupid rabbit that isn't even human.

* * *

_That was easy, although it was kind of difficult to dance with somebody that was way different from Luciano._

While she was on the subject of her former dance partner, Riki wondered how he was doing.

_Probably winning everything, and being overconfident all the time. *sigh* It's really boring without him. . .hm?_

". . .Princess? Princess! What are you doing?" Riki feels like she's being shaken, and notices that everyone's gone, and Kip is holding something.

"What happened?"

"You won the competition, but that's not important! Isabel is crying in the castle garden!"

"...What, why?" Kip sweat dropped. _Was she not paying attention the whole time?_

"Shit happened, you should have been paying attention!" Kip informed her of what happened while the girl was daydreaming, and then the two of them rushed to the garden.

* * *

When they got there, they found Isabel sobbing heavily. Kip left the two of them alone.

"Why won't anyone believe me?" Riki approached, and sat beside her, not saying anything.

"Even though I was telling the truth this time...I wasn't lying...!" Isabel sniffed.

"...Hey, Isabel." Riki awkwardly patted the girl on the shoulder, getting her attention.

"What do you want?!"

"What's the point of doing these types of things, when you'll end up alone in the end?" Riki sighed, remembering how she used to get into tons of fights with her classmates as a child.

"...I'm all alone anyway! Everybody knows that I have no friends, but they always rub it in my face! Nobody wants to be my friend!"

Riki sits there, letting her rant.

"It really gets to me, y'know?! Everyone else is always so happy without even trying! I hate them! All of them! They're all mean!"

Isabel puffs her cheeks, making Riki chuckle at her childish nature.

"What the... why are you laughing?! Here I am pouring my heart out, and you start laughing at me!" Riki's shoulders shake from laughing, and it takes her a few minutes to calm herself down.

"I-It's just adorable the way you go about things... you want friends, right?" Isabel stares at her, awestruck. "All right then, we're friends now."

"W-What?!" Isabel's eyes widen, _Is this really happening?_

"Well, I've never had a female friend before, but I did have a younger sister. Girls talk about boys and stuff, right?"

"...Really? You really want to be my friend?" Rietta nods.

"...Do you not want to be friends with me? I mean, that's understandable..." Isabel flails around, stopping Riki from continuing.

"No, I do! I do!"

"Are you sure?" Isabel nods rapidly.

"There, from now on, we're friends." Riki pauses, "Well, since we're friends now, do you want to hang out tomorrow?"

"...Really? You don't mind being seen with me?" Riki takes off her wig and eye contacts, and smiles at the girl.

"As long as you don't mind, I don't." The two make plans to go to the concert together, and go their separate ways.

When Rietta enters her house, she stares at the princess, who is drinking tea.

_...Oh yeah, this her fault._

"...I'm back." The princess grins at her.

"Welcome home~"

Rietta stares at her for several more minutes, before sighing and sitting beside the princess.

"Give me some tea." The princess hands her a cup of tea, and the two sip their drinks in comfortable silence.

"So, how did things go with Isabel?" Rietta opens one of her eyes, and glances at the princess.

"...? Oh yeah, everything's fine now. I'm friends with Isabel, so our secrets safe." She doesn't bother telling the princess that Kiefer totally already knows everything.

"Thank goodness!"

"Now you can stay in my world for as long as you want with no worries."

"...What?" Princess Riki almost drops her cup.

"You should be getting back, school starts up tomorrow." Rietta gestures towards the closet.

"...B-But don't you want to go back home?"

Rietta snorts, "When did I ever say that?"

"...But..."

"There's nobody waiting for me at home, didn't you notice? There's nobody who'll care (except for Keith, but whatever), so I was planning on staying here as myself."

Princess Riki is quiet for a few moments,"...Well, I'll just keep enjoying myself in your world until then, I guess."

Rietta nods, and the princess soon leaves.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 27. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_"So you're going out with your new friend today?"_

_Rietta had no idea how the angel even knew about this, since she hadn't said anything._

_"...Yeah, we're going to go see an animal concert." The angel's face brightened up._

_"Really?! Cool! I wish I could go to one..!"_

_"Why can't you go to a concert?" _

_The angel looked at her with a tinge of sadness,"Well... it's because I'm dead."_

* * *

"Rietta? Are you okay?" Isabel waves a hand in front of her face, making Rietta remember that they were in the middle of talking.

"Oh, shit, sorry. I tend to doze off when I'm talking..." Isabel snorts at her friend.

"I noticed. Anyway, we're here so it's okay." The two of them get front seats (the perks of being there early), and chat quietly about various things.

Including...

"So, you were the one who was Luciano's partner?" Isabel was quieter with this statement, trying to keep her promise of making sure this stays secret.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

Isabel stares at her friend, taking in her pale-ish skin, shiny black hair, and dark brown eyes that hold a certain spark of mystery that made her kind of alluring, even to girls. Add to that Rietta's natural talent for dancing, and her way of sometimes losing focus in the middle of conversations (which just adds to her mystery), and you are starstruck.

Isabel stared harder at her friend, _I wonder if she's ever dated anyone before._

"...What are you staring at me for?" Rietta raised her eyebrow at her friend, wondering what could have made Isabel lose focus.

"Have you ever dated before?" Isabel felt the words slip right out without meaning to, and would have facepalmed for her idiocy, if Rietta hadn't responded.

"Yeah, I did, although it was only once. I had a girlfriend that was two years younger than me." Isabel's eyes widened.

_I just meant the thing about girls liking her as a joke (even if it was just a thought)... Wait. She only said once...?_

"...Weren't you dating Luciano?"

"...Luci? What are you talking about? Aren't dance partners some kind of Royal Friends?" After hearing the confusion in Rietta's voice, Isabel remembered that the real princess had said she was from another world. Maybe she didn't really know about how things worked?

"...No. Most dance partners usually end up as couples. Don't they have royalty in your world?" Rietta shrugged.

"Yeah, and they have fairytale bullshit too, but I never read them. It suited my girlfriend more, given her cheery personality and childish tendencies. I had too many things that had to be done."

Isabel was amazed at how adult Rietta sounded, and it occurred to her that the princess looked nothing like her, but they were the same height. Also, they had opposite personalities, but their voices were almost exactly alike (Rietta's was a bit lower).

"How old are you?" This question surprised the both of them, and it nearly looked like Rietta wasn't going to answer.

"...I turned eighteen nine days ago." Isabel counted back nine days, thinking that it sounded weird the way she had said it, when she realized something.

_Her birthday was the day of the Founding Festival... the day that Luciano was ordered to leave the kingdom._

"O-Oh. Well... happy late birthday." Rietta let out a dry laugh.

"Thanks, you're the only one left that knows my birthday." This was actually true, Rietta's dad had told her what her birthday was when she was ten, but he later forgot after doing some drinking; no big deal, he didn't throw tantrums or break anything.

"...What about your girlfriend?" From the way Rietta froze up, Isabel knew she had stepped on a landmine. Isabel's mind reeled back, trying not to fuck everything up.

"I-I'm sorry, it's really none of my business-" Rietta muttered something under her breath, and Isabel stopped cold.

"W-What?" Rietta sighed, but repeated what she said.

"...I said she's... dead. She drowned in a lake three years ago." Isabel covered her mouth, horrified.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Rietta frowned at her.

"What are you sorry for? It was my fault. I tried to save her, but my damn stamina problem kicked in at the wrong time. I nearly drowned as well, but the pressure of the water triggered my stomach ulcer, which is weird, because that usually only happened when I felt social anxiety."

Isabel listened to the girl ramble on about her medical problems, too bewildered by the fact that Rietta was talking about this so nonchalantly.

_Then again, she did say it happened three years ago... but still._

It was then that Isabel noticed that Rietta had stopped talking, and was looking at her like she had asked an unanswered question.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Rietta smirked.

"Who's the dozer now? I asked why you originally asked me if I had been dating Luci."

"Well, you went on a few public dates... and he gave you a christmas present, right?" Rietta nodded, fondly remembering the sunflower figurine. "Shouldn't that make it clear that he liked you?"

"...But we only had only known each other for a little over a week." Isabel shrugged.

"When you're a royal teenager, you tend to have to grow up quickly." Rietta had a newfound respect for the actual royal members of society.

"...I never thought about that. What about you? Do you have somebody you like?" Rietta looks at Isabel so intensely that she has to look away, feeling her face heat up.

"Uhm... I might..." She knew that Rietta wasn't going to let it go just like that, considering she had just spilled her guts about her younger dead girlfriend.

"Male or Female?"

"Male..."

"Do I know him?" Isabel went over her memories, trying to remember if she had ever seen the two of them together.. and then remembered that she had seen them a few times.

"Yeah, actually; you see him kind of often." Rietta's eyes lit up, already having figured out who it was.

"Could it be... Kiefer?" The immediate flushing of Isabel's face was enough of an answer, and Rietta snorted.

"H-How'd you know?"

Rietta could count the people she sees regularly on one hand.

_Liam: Dating his sister. (May God help them)_

_Luciano: Apparently had been dating me(possibly)._

_Vince: May or may not have a relationship with Michael, Mitch's other-world self._

_Kip: Is a fucking MOUSE._

_Kiefer: Free as the wind._

However, Rietta didn't voice her thoughts, since two of those were private, and should only be discussed with the people involved.

"Just my intuition... If you want, I could ask him if he has anyone he likes. I was best friends with my world's version of him, and it seems like our friend halves still mesh together." Isabel grabbed Rietta's hands, her eyes sparkling.

"You'd really do that for me?" Rietta shakes free of her grasp, and ruffles Isabel's hair.

"Isn't that what friends do?...Hell, I could be wrong. I've only ever been friends with three people, and one of them was my girlfriend, who was the only girl in my circle."

Isabel went through the list of all the female friends she had ever seen. "I think so."

"Then it's decided. I'll ask him tomorrow." Then, the two notice that the concert is about to start, so they watch it in silence.

* * *

After the concert, Isabel, having split up with Rietta, decided that since she was the only who knew that Rietta's birthday was recent, they should have a mini party. Isabel had picked up a small cake for three (Kip would want some too), and had fretted over what she should get her. Finally, she found something that screamed 'Rietta'. Isabel had it specially wrapped in blue wrapping paper (obviously Rietta's favorite color, since recently she has been wearing nothing but the color blue), and snuck over to Rietta's house.

Isabel knocked on the door, and patiently waited while she heard some rustling from the inside (and a few swears being tossed around, which indicated that Rietta had most likely been in bed, and had fallen out). At last, the door was open angrily, and Isabel was glad she was the only one there, because Rietta was (once again) wearing just Luciano's jacket over her undergarments. It didn't even look like Rietta had any real idea about what she was wearing, so Isabel just calmly pushed her inside and closed the door.

"What are you here for? It's fucking midnight." Isabel's eyes widened, and she looked at the clock.

_Holy shit, I spent more time in that market than I thought!_

She shuffled around, before making up her mind and presenting the cake to Rietta, "H-Happy late birthday!"

Silence ensues, and Isabel, getting nervous, opens one of her eyes, and then both of them. Rietta looks pleasantly surprised, although it might be partly because she is clearly tired as shit.

"What kind of cake is it...?"

"...Oh! It's confetti cake. I didn't know what kind of cake you like, so I chose my favorite." Rietta took Kip's slice (he was out...somewhere) and put the entire thing in her mouth.

"Ish gud." Isabel let out a sigh of relief. Rietta rubs her mouth on her arm, and licks her lips, which is weird, but whatever. It was then that Rietta noticed the present that was in Isabel's other arm, and she pointed at it.

"What's that for?"

Isabel handed the present to Rietta,"It's for you."

Rietta gave her a weird look, but accepted it nonetheless. She tore the wrapping paper apart, and looked at what was inside.

"Good day, m'lady." It was a small kitten that was entirely black, with amber eyes. The kitten had a bright blue bow wrapped around the back of the scruff of her neck.

"..." Rietta turned to Isabel to see if she was kidding. She wasn't. "...Isabel, you **do** know that you should have put some breathing holes in this box, right?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot... sorry little kitty." Isabel patted the kitten on the head as an apology.

"No problem, Miss. What am I to be named?"

Rietta stared at the kitten, contemplating on what to name it. After much thinking, she finally decided.

"Ceri." Ceri and Isabel did not even bother questioning the name, as they both had the feeling that it would have a very confusing reason.

"Well, I'll be going now. See you tomorrow, Rietta!" Isabel waved as she left.

Rietta made a small bed for Ceri by stuffing cloth in the nicely sized box for her to sleep in.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 28. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_"...So you're dead?" Rietta looked up at the angel, who's name she still could not figure out._

_"Yeah, I died a few years ago. It sucked. Anyway, have you found anybody you like yet? It's been almost a month."_

_Rietta sat there, and only one person came to mind. The angel grinned, as if she could read Rietta's thoughts._

_"Luciano, hm~? He's an asshole, perfect for you. I like him better than Lucas." The angel slapped Rietta's shoulder._

_"...How would you know? Who are you?" The angel looked down at her, and smirked._

_"I'm just an innocent little angel...hehe."_

* * *

When Rietta woke up, it took mere moments for her to realize that she had woken up all on her own, with nobody yelling at her to wake up.

_Where did Kip go?_ She looked around, but didn't find anything.

"Good morning, m'lady. What will the two of us do today?" Rietta looked at her new kitten Ceri, and put Ceri on her shoulder.

"First, let's go get some breakfast, go find Kiefer, and then go to dance practice."

* * *

As the two walk to the Dance Hall for a good dancing session, Rietta noticed a lone flower growing in the sidewalk crack. Noticing that it was the same type as the flower she had used for 'Loves me, loves me not', she picked it up, and started picking off the petals as she continued walking.

"What are you doing?" Ceri rubbed her face against Rietta's cheek, trying to catch all her attention.

"I'm playing a game." Rietta came to the last petal, and a smile made it's way onto her face.

_Loves me._

She knew it didn't really mean anything coming from a flower, but maybe Rietta could take it as a sign that Luciano'd come back for the Ball in Saint-Lyon?

* * *

Ceri had tried to dance to the music too, but her little kitty feet made her trip all over herself. Somewhere after the first couple of dances, Kip popped in, dragging a heavy bag.

"What'cha got there, Kip?" Rietta slowly walked over to him.

"It's a bunch of fan mail for you~!" Kip reached in and threw a bunch of letters at Rietta, of which she only managed to catch one.

Rietta tore open the letter, and scanned the contents.

_**Dear Riki,**_

_**Your beautiful dancing always cheers up my day. I've been looking forward to the dancing competitions recently, because I know I'll be able to watch you twirl around.**_

_**Lately you seem kind of off, though. **_

_**Is it because your dance partner left? I heard that you two were dating, but why would he just suddenly leave if he liked you at all?**_

_**I hope things get better for you soon.**_

_**XOX**_

"...Well, that was kind of...odd. I hate getting dating advice from letters." Rietta wrinkled her nose, and then saw something else was inside the envelope. She turned it upside down, and out came a feather-looking object.

"Oh! It's an accessory! Your fan must really like you a lot." Kip squeals.

"I have only known you for about a day, and I agree that your dancing is quite splendid, m'lady." Ceri piped up, before batting at the feather.

"...Ah, thanks." Rietta looks away, feeling herself blushing. The two creatures cooed over her, before the three of them spent the rest of the day reading fan mail.

When they left, Rietta felt like somebody was watching her. She whipped her head around, and took a long, hard look inside the dance hall, before deciding that she was satisfied and left.

_I must just be over-paranoid._

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 29. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_"Tomorrow's the day of the ball, huh?" The angel flew circles around Rietta, with her arms folded behind her head._

_"Yeah, I guess so."_

_"...You nervous?" Rietta mulled over that notion for a bit, before shaking her head._

_"Nah, it's not a big deal. I probably won't even be able to participate, I don't have a dance partner anymore."_

_"...But what if you did?" Rietta raised her eyebrow at the strange angel._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"I'm just saying... If Luciano came back, what would you do?"_

_"...I...don't know." The angel smiled._

_"Well, soon you won't need me to be here for you any longer." _

_Rietta was startled by this sudden admission,"W-What do you mean? I don't even know who you are."_

_The angel floated closer to Rietta, and tapped her on the forehead. "It's okay if you don't remember me. I just want you to live freely, and move onward."_

_Things started getting fuzzy around the edge of her eyes, and Rietta fell to the grass, getting a face full of sunflowers._

_**"Live well... big sister."**_

* * *

Rietta woke up to somebody pounding on her door, and sat straight up, her hair all messy. There was a wet feeling on her cheeks, which made it obvious to her that she was crying.

_What was my dream about? I feel like it was something important._

The pounding on the door got more urgent, which made Rietta jolt a little in her bed.

_That measure of force... could it really be...?_

She scrambled to get up, and had managed to get out of her covers, when she tripped and just faceplanted into her carpet, sending a few other things that she had made a grab for on her fall down crashing towards the ground.

The knocker was apparently alarmed by the various crashes from her bedroom, because they just slammed the door open.

"RIETTA, ARE YOU OK?!" Luciano rushed over to her unmoving body, and lifted up her head, taking no notice of the obvious change in appearance.

Rietta opened her eyes, and stared at Luciano's concerned expression, shocked.

"...What the...Luci?" Luciano let out a long sigh of relief, and it was then that he became aware of what she was wearing.

As you may have already guessed, Rietta is in the usual morning attire of a jacket (Luciano's) and her undergarments.

Luciano immediately let go of her, and covered his eyes. "W-WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?! GO GET DRESSED!"

Rietta stared at his embarrassed form, before laughing and going to the bathroom to bathe and get changed.

Ceri poked her head out of her bed-box, having finally decided that it was safe to come out. She took immediate notice of the boy in her mistress's room.

"Oh, good day young man. Are you an acquaintance of m'lady?" Luciano stares at Ceri, wondering when the hell 'Riki' got a cat.

"...Yes. I am. Though, I hope I'm more than just an acquaintance."

The bathroom door opened, and Rietta walked out, wearing the 'Riki' disguise, as well as a her usual 'Rietta' attire. Ceri, smelling the scent of her mistress, pounced at Riki, landing on her shoulder, and rubbed her face all over Riki's face.

Once settling her eyes back on Luciano, Riki's face scrunched up.

"...What are you doing back here, Luci?" Luciano stood up, and crossed his arms.

"I told you I would come back, didn't I?"

Riki turned her head to the side, "...I didn't really think you would..."

Luciano stares at his former dance partner, until he got aggravated by her silence, and grabbed her arm, dragging her out the door.

"L-Luci?! What are you doing!?" Luciano muttered something in response, and looked back at her. After noting that she didn't hear him, he repeated it slightly louder.

"I said we're going on a date!"

* * *

The two of them (Ceri had stayed behind, deciding that the couple needed alone time) arrived at an amusement park. Riki's eyes widened at the nostalgia of the smells and sounds of the park.

_I know why Riki'd want to come here, but why did Luciano take me here? He's the grumpiest grump I know (besides Kiefer... heh)._

"It's odd, being at an amusement park with you, Luci." Luciano cocked an eyebrow at her, smirking.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Riki shrugged.

"Well, it's just that we were always busy with dance practice."

"It's fine to take a break every now and then, right?...Do you not like amusement parks?"

"Of course not, I love amusement parks. I just didn't have much time for them as a child." Luciano was surprised; wasn't this a part of everyone's childhood experience? Even royalty would go to these types of things.

"...Well, we'll just have to make up for lost time. Come with me." Riki followed behind Luciano, but kept getting pushed around in the crowd.

_HOLY SHIT-THIS IS WHY I HATE CROWDS._

Luciano looked back, and noticed that she was having quite a deal of difficulty. He sighed, and stomped back over to Riki, grabbing her hand, and dragging her towards the best ride in every amusement park.

The ferris wheel.

Riki looked up at the tall attraction. "This one?"

Luciano nodded at her, before giving the attendant his tickets (where he had gotten them, Riki did not know). The attendant looked at them, grinned while nodding his approval, and allowed them to go inside.

The view was quite nice, and they were able to see the entire kingdom. It was actually a little bit too tall, and Riki felt the blood drain from her face.

"O-Oh geez... the people look so small..." Riki turns away from the window, and gives Luciano her attention instead. It's then that she notices that he's not exactly one hundred percent 'there'.

"...Hey, Luci," Luciano looks up, "how did the World Competition go?"

He was quiet for just a moment, but spoke. "...I lost."

Riki's eyes widened,"S-Seriously?...I guess there a few dancers that even you can't beat, hm? I mean, the world's a big place and all..."

Luciano's stare at her intensifies, so Riki shuts up and stares at her feet.

"...If it had been the two of us, we would probably have won."

Riki looked up at him, amazed. In all seriousness... she had never been praised at home by anyone other than Riki and Aunty, so she still wasn't doing so well with getting told she's doing a good job. Especially from her professional ex-dance partner.

"You really think so?" Luciano looked her in the eyes, and almost lost his train of thought.

"...The truth is, I came back in time for the Ball in Saint-Lyon so that I could dance with you, Riki. Will you forgive me...?"

Riki sat there, not responding to him at all, making Luciano incredibly nervous.

"...Didn't I already tell you that it wasn't your fault? Besides, I was the one who told you to come back for the ball. Of course I'll dance with you, stupid." Riki reached over and punched him in the arm. Luciano gives her a small smile.

"...Thanks."

The two of them came towards the end of the ride, and Luciano helped Riki get out.

As they were wandering around the park, Luciano suddenly stopped walking, making Riki bump right into him.

"What the hell, Luci?" Riki swore, rubbing her forehead. Luciano turned around to face here.

"Want to go practice dancing right now?" Riki almost couldn't believe this.

_Is he really asking me if I'd rather go dancing than be at an amusement park?_

"Of course I do, let's go!" Riki took charge, leading the couple towards the Practice Hall.

Luckily, nobody was there on account of the amusement park being opened today. Luciano took in a deep breath.

"It feels like it's been a long time since I've been here, but it's only been two weeks."

Riki snorted,"Yeah, enough with the nostalgia, let's get started."

She stopped, and then tore open the bag of accessories that Kip makes her carry at all times, before dumping the contents on the floor, and seperating the ones that she had before Luciano left, and the ones she acquired afterwards.

"...What are you doing?"

"I got a bunch of accessories while you were gone, and I was going to showcase them to you."

Luciano didn't know what to say about that, so he just let her do what she wanted.

After some decision making process was completed, Riki put on the golden necklace they won on her birthday, and her outfit changed to a ruby colored dress with black gloves that went up to her elbows. Riki turned on the Voices of Spring, and they began their dance.

As expected, Riki forced herself into the lead role, and made Luciano be the 'woman'.

"Let's go again!"

Riki grabbed the gorgeous headband, and turned on the Turkish March. Having only been the girl dancer, she let Luciano take the lead on that one.

They take a small water break in silence, and quickly get back to work. Now, Riki grabbed the weird rabbit hat that was just lying around in the corner (she had no idea where it came from), and turned on American Patrol.

She became clad in a bunny suit that encased her in fur from head to toe, and she grimaced as she watched Luciano try not to laugh.

"T-That's a great outfit. Where'd you get it?" Riki gestured towards the corner.

"It was lying over there on the ground."

The two of them swirl around, only stopping to grab the next accessory and change the song to Funiculí funiculá.

The song is much faster than the others, and Riki loves it, although she could do without this devil costume (it had a freaking revealing spot in the top piece, what the hell was her friend thinking?). At least Luciano was a gentleman and didn't stare at her chest.

_**+50 points.**_ Rietta could hear the a familiar voice sound out in her head, but chose to ignore it, and turn to the final accessory.

"Okay... this one's the last one, and I got it from that stupid dog guard. He said it'd suit me, or some bullshit like that." She clipped the belt on, and turned back to Luciano to dance the tango.

When he didn't comply, and had an angrily flushed face, Riki looked down at what she was wearing, and promptly shrieked, covering herself up.

Luciano covered his eyes with one of his hands,"I'm going to punch that dog right in the face, but he's really lucky nobody else is here right now."

Begrudgingly, the two dance the tango in an awkward silence, and then depart, going to get ready for the big day tomorrow.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Riki had a dreamless sleep, making her well-rested for the big day. She woke up early, got showered and dressed in her nicest dress (which was pink), and sat still while Kip curled her wig into a twirled up bun on her head.

After a decent amount of time, Luciano walked in to pick Riki up. He gave her a medium-sized snack packet of sunflower seeds, not knowing that her condition got all better; nonetheless, Riki accepted it, and ate on them during their walk to the castle.

Luciano, remembering how anxious Riki had gotten during the Founding Festival, looked at his partner in concern. She looked fine, but then again with her you could never really tell.

"Are you nervous?" Riki looked up at him from the corner of her eyes, munching on her snack.

"A little bit. It's probably not as big as world-level-competition nervousness."

Luciano scratched the bridge of his nose,"Actually, I'm more nervous right now than I was for the World competition."

"What?...Why?" Luciano looked her right in the eyes.

"Well, it's the first actual competition that the two of us are competing in together, right?"

Riki tilted her head, thinking it through, and nodded. "Mm, you're right."

"Therefore, even though I'm nervous, I'm also looking forward to dancing with you."

Riki laughs, "Me too. This'll be a great time."

* * *

The hall was absolutely crowded, being even busier than all the other competitions. People filled up the hall, leaving only a small area for where the dancing would take place. Riki looked around, and saw Kiefer and Isabel chatting together, and smiled. Things had gone really well for them, they had hit it off right away.

Luciano's inquiry brought her back to the present, "There's a lot of people here, are you sure you're alright?"

Riki, finally getting fed up with his constant asking about her well being, forced her skin to get pale. _Time to turn on my lying skills._

"...Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're doing a bad job of lying."

"...What?" _Did he already catch on to me? Shit, I thought I was unreadable._

"You're not fooling anybody. You did something wrong, didn't you?" _Score!_

"Well... I kind of fell asleep in my bath tub last night, so I think I caught another cold." Luciano looked angry **and** worried.

"Are you kidding? What are we going to do?" Unable to contain her composure any longer, Riki started giggling, which turned into full-blown laughter.

"I'm just kidding! You need to stop worrying." Luciano glared at her, taken by surprise, but a smirk finally crept onto his face.

"Yeah, ok. You taught me a valuable lesson of never trusting anything you say at face value ever again."

"We'll see about that." Luciano's eyes widen in realization, and he pulls something out of his coat pocket, placing it carefully in Riki's hand.

"Here, I got this for you while I was away at the World Dance Competition." Riki looked at it, and was awed at the delicate little comb. It was obviously an accessory, and it was one of the few that she was actually glad to have.

"It's beautiful. Thanks, I'll have to wear it for our performance." _Since it'll probably be the only time I'll ever be able to rightfully wear it._

"That'll be great, let's get going, our turn is next-"

Suddenly, a shout quiets the entire hall. "WAIT!"

Luciano looks around, pissed off that somebody is trying to keep them from going next.

The dog guard comes forward, dragging somebody in a cloak... which makes Riki unconsciously take a step backwards, already knowing who it is.

"Your majesty, I've captured a suspicious person lurking in the hallways of the castle!"

He pushed the cloaked one forward, and the king came to take a look.

"...Yes, they look very suspicious indeed." The guard nods in agreement.

The cloaked one struggles in the guard's tight grip, knowing that when she's unmasked everything will fall apart.

"Let me go! Let me go!" The guard ignores her protests, and instead takes off her cloak. Isabel and Kiefer, having figured out the situation, quickly made their way to Riki's side, ready to take her and escape when the time is right.

Of course, the person is the real Princess Riki. Gasps are heard everywhere, and a loud murmuring breaks out amongst the crowd.

The king staggers back, shocked. "W-What?! There are two Riki's?!"

The Princess looks at Riki, and smiles apologetically. "Sorry! I got caught again."

Riki sighed, and shook her head. "What are we going to do now, genius?"

Everyone (except the two involved, and their three accomplices) looked back and forth between the two.

"Would you please explain this for us, uh...Riki?"

"Alright." The two Riki's speak in unison, making the Princess smack her (almost) double on the back of the head.

"He meant the REAL Riki. You may as well take off the stupid disguise, we don't need it anymore." Rietta sighed, and slipped off her wig, that had Kip's hard work in it, and started to carefully try and take out her color contacts.

"...Go on, speak." The king nodded his head at the Princess while Rietta struggled with her contacts.

The Princess scratched the back of her head,"First of all, I'm really sorry Daddy! This is actually Rietta, the sister of my double in another world. I brought her here against her will..."

"What?! Why would you do this?!"

The Princess shuffled her feet, embarrassed. "Well, it's because I'm really bad with princes and dancing. Luckily for me, Rietta is a professional dancer in her world."

The king threw up his arms (Rietta thought about how childish that was),"Oh, the shame you have brought upon me! Basically, Isabel was telling the truth during the competition a few days ago."

He looks at Isabel, who is helping the struggling Rietta take out her contacts, "I'm so sorry we didn't believe you, dear."

Isabel looked up at the king, and smiled, surprising almost everyone. "It's not a problem at all, this is the best thing that's ever happened to me! I have a best friend that is willing to help me out with...things. There's nothing to be sorry for, your majesty."

"...Well, I still have no choice. Rietta is hereby disqualified! She can no longer be partners with Luciano, and is barred from dancing ever again!"

Rietta's eyes widened, having finally got the contacts out, and having caught up with the conversation. "W-What?"

The king frowned at her,"I'm sorry, Rietta, but we must follow the rules."

Princess Riki looked appalled, _This isn't at all what I wanted! I just wanted to skip out on a competition! I've got to do something!_

"W-Wait, daddy! Don't punish Rietta! It's not her fault!" All heads turned to the Princess, "It's mine! Rietta worked so hard at her dancing just so she could keep a promise to me! Please, forgive her! You can punish me instead!"

Kip floated beside her, his head down. "It is my fault as well, Sir. I should have tried harder to stop the princess."

"If I may, I am also able to testify that m'lady Rietta should not be punished. I have been with her for only a few days, and even I can tell that she pushed herself really far to get here." Ceri trotted through the gaps in the crowd, and leaped up onto Rietta's shoulders, purring.

A long silence fell upon the hall, as the king looked at the people standing before him. At long last, he came to a decision.

"You know what? Things have gotten better with Rietta here. Isabel is nicer, Luciano and Kiefer are dancing again, and Riki is actually thinking about the consequences of her actions! I will take back Rietta's disqualification!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd; Isabel, Kiefer, the Princess, and Rietta all let out a large sigh of relief.

Tears came to Princess Riki's eyes, and she hugged the king. "Yay! Thanks Daddy!"

Rietta, being much more formal, bowed to him. "Thank you, your majesty."

The king waved his hand at Rietta,"You can just call me your dad, you're practically like family anyway. Though, it might be too soon to celebrate..."

The king gestured at Luciano, who everyone had forgotten in the commotion. Luciano stood there with his arms crossed, looking angry.

"Prince Luciano must be deeply upset, his dance partner _did_ turn out to be a fake."

Rietta turned back to Luciano, grimacing. "Sorry, Luci..."

He looked down at her, making her instinctively flinch, before sighing. "Did you really forget about that letter that you gave me when I left? You already told me all about the situation, and either way, it doesn't matter who's real or not. **You're** my dance partner, are you not?"

Rietta remembered that she DID do exactly that, and facepalmed. "Yeah, I am...But then why did you keep calling me Riki?"

Luciano snorted,"It was a joke, because it really seemed like you didn't remember giving me the letter."

"Then why are you so angry?"

"Well, they kept us from taking our turn, and even momentarily banned you from being my dance partner."

The king laughed, and smacked Luciano on the back. "All right, go dance to your little heart's content!"

Princess Riki hugged Rietta, and helped her set the comb accessory in her hair. Rietta's annoying pink dress turned into a faded blue kimono with a black bow on the side, and she took Luciano's as they walked towards the clearing.

Everyone started clapping, even though the dance hadn't happened yet. The announcer for the event enthusiastically welcomed them.

"Now, it's the dance everyone has been waiting for! Prince Luciano and Lady Rietta!"

Rietta gave a short laugh at that. _Now I'm a lady, imagine that._

The music for Voices of Spring came on, and Rietta and Luciano began twirling. The two of them felt like this was the best dance they had ever performed. Rietta actually closed her eyes, trusting her body to remember the movements.

The two of them, finished, started laughing. Isabel and co. came over.

"You guys are totally going to win!" Princess Riki squealed, not caring if any other competitors heard her.

"Well, you **did** say Rietta is a pro, right? Of course she'll win!" Isabel laughed, taking pride in her friend.

"Don't be so overconfident, they still have to finish with the rest of the competitors. We'll just have to wait for the results." Kiefer sighed, although he too thought that the pair would win hands down.

The girls sweat drop, and speak in unison. "Oh yeah..."

The pair themselves, however, hadn't even been listening the entire time. They were too busy breaking down the mechanics of the remaining dancers.

After every pair had finished, the dancers gathered in a line, waiting for the results. Some looked disheartened before the results were even announced ('clearly a sign that they thought that Rietta&Luciano would win', said Isabel).

The announcer took out an envelope. "And now to announce the results!"

All pairs tensed up, and Luciano muttered "C'mon! Just give us the award already." under his breath, earning an elbow in the ribs from Rietta, but then she grabbed his hand, and squeezed it, making Luciano go scarlet.

The announcer read the envelope, and rolled his eyes in amusement while laughing. "And the winners are Rietta and Luciano! Everyone, let's give them a round of applause!"

As instructed, the crowd broke out into thunderous applause. Even the losers started clapping for the pair.

"We won, Luci!" Rietta felt more excited by this than she had ever felt before.

"Was there ever a doubt?" He smirked, getting him another elbow in the ribs on their way up to the award podium.

Luciano stopped, and suddenly got serious,"Hey, Rietta."

Rietta turned her head up to look at him,"Yes?"

He looked at her intensely, but looked away. "...Never mind, it's nothing."

"That's not going to work on me, Luci. I use that excuse all the time. What is it?" At the top of the steps, and feeling cornered, Luciano gave up.

_I've got nothing to lose._ Actually, he did, but that wasn't something he wanted to think about.

"Well, I had a great time being your dance partner..."

"Same, I truly enjoyed dancing with you. I'm really glad you came back." Encouraged by this, Luciano continued on.

"I know I kept you waiting while I was away, and I haven't really been the best at conversing, but I know that I'm at my happiest when I'm with you...maybe..."

Several "Aw's" came from the crowd, and Luciano remembered with a start that they were in the castle's dance hall.

_Whatever, now's better than never._

"What the hell's wrong with you? Are you feeling ok?" Rietta gave him a weird glance before she accepted the trophy for them, since Luciano seemed to be too busy talking his head off.

"What?..Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... ARGH!" Luciano threw his hands up in the air, "I don't want this to be the last time I ever see you again!"

"...What?" Rietta blinked, and the crowd went silent, anticipating what was surely to come.

"I know you should go back to your world, but I'd rather have you stay and come back with me to Garadium Kingdom to meet my parents!" Finishing his rant, Luciano hid his face behind his hands while he waited for Rietta to respond.

There was a long, drawn out silence as everyone waited for Rietta to react even the tiniest bit; she was just standing there, not making any move at all.

"...Seriously, Luci. What the hell are you talking about? Why would I want to go back to my world? I'm ignored as fuck there, and live all by myself in a big house with only large boxes for company!" Rietta smacked him on the head, "Besides, why would I tell you to come back for the ball if I just planned on leaving right afterwards?"

She turned around, and descended the steps, joining her small group of friends. Luciano just stood there on stage, before stomping down the steps and over to where she stood (being congratulated by Kiefer, and scolded by the girls for not giving Luciano a reply), and grabbed Rietta's arm.

"You didn't answer my question!" Rietta turned back towards Luciano, wearing her apathetic face.

"...Geez, do I really need to spell everything out for you, Luci?" Getting no response, Rietta sighed while rolled her eyes, grabbed the tie of Luciano's shirt, and yanked him down, crashing their lips together. Rietta reached inside his jacket pocket, and took out the object he had planned on giving her.

Finally, Rietta let go of Luciano, who was frozen in place, and put the engagement ring on her finger.

"Of course I'll go back with you. I'm not allowed to dance with anyone else, remember?"

Luciano regains his composure, and took her hand in his. "T-That's right. You're not allowed to dance with anyone but me."

The audience breaks down into groups, some cheering, some crying (stupid Luciano fangirls), and then some perverts wolf whistling.

The night was filled with people congratulating the couple, enthusiastic dancing, and much cake eating.

* * *

_**. . . . . . . Epilouge . . . . . . . **_

_When Luciano was finally old enough, the two of them were married exactly on Luciano's birthday. Somehow, Isabel and Riki (who were co-maids of honor, since they fought tooth and nail over it) took over the entire wedding, since the bride did not seem to give a rat's ass about the details. Ceri was the ring bearer, Kiefer was the best man, and Kip gave Rietta away._

_Luciano and Rietta moved to Kiefer's kingdom (he and Isabel got married soon after), leaving Garadium Kingdom in the hands of Luciano's younger brother._

* * *

**(10 years later)**

"Dad, you and Mom used to dance in competitions together, right?" Luci (six years old) sat on her fathers lap, in her parents' bedroom, looking through a photo album.

"What?... Oh, yeah. We used to win every single competition. You're mom is the best dancer there is, after all." Luciano finished doing his daughter's hair, and put his chin on Luci's head.

"Really? Was she all beautiful and stuff?" Luciano raised an eyebrow at his daughter.

"...Of course she was. She still is. You do know she's still alive, right?"

Luci giggled, "Duh! When is she coming back from the doctor's?"

Luciano looked at his watch, "Riiight about... (door slams) now."

They can hear the loud walking of Rietta, and sit there, waiting. Eventually, she slams the door to the bedroom open, and stares at the two of them.

"Oh, there you two are." Rietta plopped down on the bed beside them, and put her head on Luciano's shoulder.

"What did the doctor say?" Luci peered up at the her parents, quietly listening to their adult talk.

"He said I should stop punching walls." Rietta wiggled her arm in a cast.

"That's good advice. What else?"

"Well, apparently Luci here is going to have two younger brothers soon. We should probably get started on accumulating boy stuff."

Luci jumped around the house, chanting "I'm going to be a big si~ster" over and over again.

Ceri jumped up onto Rietta's lap, and curled into a ball, making her presence known.

"Oh, hi Ceri."

"Good day, m'lady. I shall help you focus on keeping healthy, ok? Next time you punch a wall, I will have to bite your leg."

"Yeah yeah yeah. Whatever." Rietta yawned, and leaned against Luciano with all her weight.

Luciano looked down at her peaceful face,"...Tired?"

"Mm... yeah. But it's fine. I just want to stay like this for a while."


	36. Ending 2: Rikis

**I did not make a spelling mistake on the chapter title!  
**

**There's a very long note at the end, but you don't have to read it if you're not interested. BI**

* * *

"You can go if you want to. I don't mind." Riki shrugged, and sat back down on her bed.

Luciano looked at her in disbelief,"...You're serious?"

"Yeah, there's nothing that can be done, right? It's no big deal. Have fun at the competition, 'kay?" Riki pats Luciano on the back.

"...I'm sorry." He walked out the door, and the instant the door closed Riki's face broke into a frown.

"Hm. Nothing seems to go right for me." Riki runs a hand through her hair, and sits down on her bed.

_Even though I managed to get a good dance partner, I still can't get any luck. Is it because I have loose ends?_

Riki sighed, and placed her arms behind her head. _This really reminds me of the time I rejected Lucas...Except there's no Riki here to tell me do that._

* * *

_A thirteen year old Rietta sat on the couch, staring in the direction of the door, her mouth slightly open. There used to be a person right beside her, but they ran out the door. That person was Lucas, who just asked her if she'd date him. He then said to give him her reply later and ran away._

_**...If I'm to be completely honest, I already noticed it years ago.**__ Rietta sighed, and ran a hand through her bangs, keeping them out of her eyes as she thought about what to do._

_It was at this time that Riki came skipping down the stairs. She was going to ask Rietta if she'd mind helping her do a bunch of math homework... although this was just an excuse to spend more time with Rietta without Lucas interrupting. However, when she saw her sister just sitting there on the couch, staring into deep space, Riki threw the excuse right out of her mind, and jumped over the back of the couch to sit by Rietta._

_"What's wrong, Rietta?" Recently, Riki had stopped calling her Sis/Big sis, deciding that it's probably what's keeping her below the level of 'lover'._

_Rietta glanced at the younger girl, before slumping her body against her's, resting her chin on top of Riki's head._

_"Lucas asked me to be his girlfriend." Riki freaked out, secretly hating Lucas for getting ahead of her._

_"A-And? What did you say?" Riki fidgeted, waiting anxiously._

_"He said to give him a reply later."_

_"...Well, what are you going to do? Are you gonna accept...?" __**Saynosaynosayno-**_

_"I don't know. What do you think?" Riki was slightly startled by this. __**Why in the hell is she asking her younger sister to decide for her? If it's like this...**_

_"Decline! Decline! Turn him down! You have to turn him down!" Rietta removed her head to stare at Riki._

_"Why do I __**have **__to?" Riki internally smacked herself. Why the hell did she say that out loud?!_

_"W-Well..." Riki decided to just abandon all reason, "...it's because I love you the most!"_

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Riki spent the whole day dancing, not being the least bit bothered about Luciano leaving.

When she was returning home, the dog guard of the castle stopped her.

"Princess! I found this on the ground yesterday. Did you lose it?" Riki took one look at it, and knew it wasn't hers.

_...Finders keepers losers weepers?_ Riki took it from him, "Oh, thanks! I was wondering where this went. Keep up the good work!"

"Yes ma'am!" The guard saluted her, then returned to his post.

Riki looked at her new accessory, and tossed it up and down in her hand.

_Well, that was lucky. Maybe things are turning up for me after all?_

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When Riki woke up, she decided that she was in a very flowery mood today, so she walked over to Tango Garden. There was almost no people around, and the flowers looked really inviting...

Riki looked around, and it seemed like the coast was clear for now.

"I guess nobody will mind if I practice in the garden today..."

* * *

Once she was done with the first practice, Riki was suddenly surrounded by a sea of animals who were all mesmerized by her innocent way of dancing. They all kept begging her to continue, so Riki danced for the animals for the remainder of the day, and they made her promise to return tomorrow. As Riki walked away, they all waved enthusiastically at her.

_It was nice to be appreciated. Maybe animals aren't so bad._

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Before going to Tango Garden, Riki decided to take a walk by the beach, since the weather was really good today. She watched the sea as she walked along the edge of the water, but the sound of foot steps rapidly approaching made her look forward, and she saw stupid Klaus running like Death was coming, and he had exorcised Death's undead children.

"...What are you doing?" Riki spoke somewhat loudly, so that Klaus could hear her over the sound of crashing waves.

Klaus ignores her, and dives behind a large nearby rock. Riki walks over towards him, but stands a decent distance away.

"What are you running from? Rabid fangirls?" Klaus nodded his head rapidly, and put his finger to his mouth, begging her to not say anything.

Riki only needed to look forward to see what the problem was.

"PRINCE KLA~US! WAIT FOR US!" Lauren and Brenda were running in Riki's direction with no shoes on, looking like hungry tigers.

"Please help me!" Klaus whispered before ducking his head behind the rock.

Lauren and Brenda came up to Riki, panting heavily.

"Where is he?! Where's Prince Klaus?!" Lauren whipped her head around, searching the area.

Brenda wiped her forehead,"That's strange... I swear he went this way... oh?"

The two of them notice Riki's presence, and she raises a hand in awkward greeting.

"Heyy... how's it going?"

They glared at her, and Lauren spoke. "Hey! Did you see Prince Klaus around here?!"

Without missing a single beat, Riki made a lie up on the spot. "He went to the market, where there's the most people to hide in."

The girls believed her, and took off for the market. "Rahhhhhh!"

Riki watched them run off, and then gestured for Klaus to come out.

"Coast's clear." Klaus slowly moved his head up, and looked around. Seeing that he was safe for now, Klaus slowly made his way over to Riki.

"You are a lifesaver! I thought they'd be following me forever."

"So, why are you avoiding them today?" This was not a thing that was uncommon, but it was odd for Klaus to do so.

"They wanted to fix a hole in my pants...so they told me to take my pants off!" Klaus shuddered.

"Oh shit..." Klaus grimaced.

"Yeah, and when I refused to do so, they threatened to just rip them off!"

"Holy shit... fangirls are intense, aren't they?" Riki's insides turned cold at the memories of Keith's fangirls attacking her.

Klaus sighed,"You're so right... and it only get's worse. I have some things to buy at the market..."

"Really? Damn, I'm sorry." Klaus shook his head.

"No, it's okay, I really appreciate you helping me out... but do you think you could maybe be my bodyguard until I finished my shopping?"

_...Does he think he's that popular? What the hell does he need a bodyguard, that use violence to protect somebody, to help him?_

Klaus, noticing her quietness, restates his question, "I mean, I just need somebody to keep watch for the two of them, and tell me so that I can escape."

"Oh... sure, I've got time." _This is going to be a good laugh._

* * *

As promised, Riki was thoroughly amused by telling Klaus that the two girls were coming every five minutes. Just as expected, Klaus was dumb enough to fall for it each time.

The two of them part ways, and Riki goes to Tango Garden. For a while, there's quite a crowd of people, so Riki wastes time by staring at various flowers. After a short period of time, a good portion of the people leave, and the animals set up a small stage in the flowers for Riki to dance in.

Riki danced four dances for them consecutively, and the animals clapped happily at the end. Right when she was about to leave, however, she noticed Liam clapping softly in the back. She went up to him, and waved.

"Hey Liam!" Liam smiled at his friend.

"Hello, Riki. I got you a present as a symbol of friendship between us. Plus, you look sad now that Luciano's gone." Liam took out a lily hairpin, and handed it to Riki.

"Oh wow, thanks!...But that's not the reason." Riki sighs.

"Oh? Then what's the matter?" Liam inquires, truly curious.

"Well..." Riki looks around, and leans in to whisper it between the two of them, ".. want to know a secret? You have to promise to keep it forever."

"Sure?" _What could be so important that even the animals can't hear us?_

"I'm not the real princess..." She paused, before continuing in her quiet whisper, "I'm not even a 'Riki' at all. But I **am** also somebody who dates her sister. So, in that way we're the same."

Liam gapes at her, trying to process what she just said. 'Riki' pokes him in the chest, and gives him a stern look.

"Remember, you promised to keep it a secret!" With that, she scurried off to her house.

When she gets home, she closes the door behind her in a hurry, and slides down the the floor.

_Shit-Why'd I do that?!... Well, at least if it's Liam, I'll have nothing to worry about. I should just give up, I have no dance partner, and from what I gathered from those animals, the Ball in Saint-Lyon was fucking OPTIONAL._

"Hey, Kip?"

"What is it, princess?" Rietta turned towards him, emitting an evil aura.

"I need you to go buy something for me from the market..."

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rietta grinned at the mirror. It was great to see the familiar black locks that she was born with again, and her brown eyes somehow gave her a feeling of confidence. After three long, hard years, she would no longer be Riki. Nope, from now on she will stay as herself.

"It's good to see you so excited... but I'm afraid you can't go dancing." Kip's solemn announcement almost crushed her enjoyment.

Rietta twirled around, and grabbed him around the neck, holding him captive. "What do you mean?"

Kip struggled to breathe,"...There's a holiday today, all the hall's are closed."

"Oh. Why didn't you just say so?" Rietta released him, and they walked into the bedroom, only to see the faintly ominous rattling of the closet. The two looked at each other, and opened the closet.

Inside was the dizzying/swirling purple vortex, with yellow mixed in.

"Oh, it must be the Princess!" Kip giggled. "Though, I'm surprised she managed to get here without me to guide her!"

After said remark, two people came flying out of the vertex in a blur, one landing on Rietta, knocking her over. Aggravated, Rietta opens her eyes (that closed with the force of the crash) to yell at the princess, but stopped short when she came face to face with a girl that looked exactly like the princess in almost every way (this one had longer hair), but Rietta knew in her gut that it was not the princess.

"...R-Riki?" Riki grinned widely at her, and squeezed Rietta until her face turned purple, rubbing their faces together.

"Rietta~ I missed you soooo much!" Princess Riki and Kip stared at the scene unfolding in front of them, touched, but also embarrassed to even see what should be a private moment.

"A-Air...!" Rietta started struggling around, and Riki finally let go, helping her sister up off the ground, and keeping hold of her hand as she slightly swung their connected hands back and forth.

"...So, Riki. Not that I'm not glad to see you, and all... but what the hell are you doing alive?" Riki let out an uncharacteristic growl, and sneered.

"It's because that god damned mother of ours told you that I died when I was actually just in a coma, just like you were, only slightly longer. She also told me you wanted nothing to do with me anymore!" Riki's eyes burst into flames, and Rietta looked pissed.

Princess Riki, trying to calm them down, opened her mouth. "W-Well, the two of you will stay here with me now, so it's all good!"

Everyone looked at her, surprised.

"Really?" (Rietta)

She nods, and then nods again with more conviction, "Yeah! I'm not going to knowingly let you two go back to that horrible world! You two can just stay with me, and when I'm queen in two years, I'll make it so that you can get married!"

Riki, with tears dripping down her face, attacked the princess with a hug. "Oh my god! Thank you so much~!"

Rietta stood in the background, not wanting to get involved, until she finally came to some kind of conclusion of whatever it is she was deciding.

"...You know, Princess... I could teach you how to dance." The two doubles stare at her, before breaking into happy hysterics.

"Really?! That would be so great!...but we only have eight days..." Princess Riki sighed, and Riki enthusiastically slapped her on the back.

"Don't worry! With Rietta teaching you, you're all set! She is the best~!" You could practically see the little hearts flying above Riki's head, and Kip left the room in a hurry, desperate to get away from all the girl talk.

"Alright, well... the dance halls are closed today.. so I guess we'll have to start tomorrow." Rietta sighed.

"Nope!" The princess took out her magic key, and winked at Rietta, making Riki slightly angry. "This key will make it so that we can get in there easily~"

"Hmph! Let's go then." Riki clung to Rietta's arm, puffing her cheeks at her double.

Rietta didn't budge,"...Can I get dressed first? I'm only in a bathrobe..."

The two stared at her clothes, and noticed that she was, in fact, only wearing a bathrobe. Rietta had only just finished dying her hair when they came, and she did so in a bathrobe to prevent her clothes from being ruined. Riki got a terrible nose bleed, and even tried to follow Rietta back into the bathroom on auto-pilot, only to get the door slammed in her face.

Princess Riki shook her head at her bleeding counterpart, "What made you think that was a good course of action?"

"I... don't know." Riki tenderly shoved a kleenex up her nose, grinning stupidly.

The door opened, and Rietta walked out. She was wearing a black suit with a deep blue tie. Riki swooned, making Rietta carry her unconscious body over to the Dance Hall.

* * *

Rietta placed the princess's hands in the appropriate positions,"Okay, we'll start out with a slow dance, alright? No pressure or anything, but we should probably finish before she wakes up."

The two look at Riki's unconscious body set up against the wall, knowing full well that she'll be jealous as hell when she wakes up, even though she approved of the lessons.

Right after the music begins, the troubles start as the princess steps on Rietta's foot... hard. Being a gentleman (gentlewoman?), Rietta does not complain...verbally. You can see how angry that made her when you look at her face. One of her eyes was twitching, and her usual scowl got even deeper. The princess apologized profusely, and they continued somewhat smoothly.

"Just relax, you're fine." Rietta growled, getting fed up with her feet being stepped on.

"O-Okay... s-sorry..." The princess whimpered, and they moved on towards Swan Lake.

Just as Rietta had dipped Princess Riki, the doors opened, and in walked Liam.

"Riki! I saw the lights on in here, and I knew it had to be you. I was thinking about what you said yesterday..." Liam trailed off as he took in the scene before him. An unconscious Riki, and a girl in a suit who held the princess-version of said Riki extremely close to her (and was glaring at him something fierce). Princess Riki let go of Rietta immediately, and hid behind her.

"...It's just Liam, we're all good, Princess. I've sworn Liam to secrecy... and if he doesn't keep him word..." Rietta cracked her knuckles, "...we'll have some words."

It was at this time that Riki woke up from her questionable sleep. Seeing the two girls in a semi-intimate pose, and a boy at the entrance, Riki got extremely jealous (like Rietta had predicted) and threw herself at Rietta.

"Back off! Neither of you can have Rietta! She's mine!" Riki whined, as she clung to Rietta like a koala. Rietta did nothing to stop her, and didn't seemed bothered by it. Her only response was to pet Riki's hair like you'd pet a small kitten.

"...Uh." Liam watched as the three interacted, and noticed that the three of them all acted differently, despite sounding almost identical, and being roughly the same size. In fact, the girl in the suit was the most Riki-like...

_**"I'm not the real princess...I'm not even a 'Riki' at all. "**_

_Is this what she meant?... Didn't she also say she's dating her sister? I guess it's the koala-girl that she's petting. The girl said her name was Rietta, right?_

"...Rietta. Which one's the real Riki?" In asking this, the two Riki look-a-likes both raise their hands.

"In a matter of speaking... they both are." Rietta explains the entire situation to Liam, keeping an eye on the door, just in case somebody else comes in.

"...So you two plan on staying here, right?" Liam tilts his head, having decided that there's really nothing he can do to make this less confusing.

"Yes! I go wherever Rietta goes!" Riki rubbed her face against Rietta's shoulder, making Rietta kind of uncomfortable.

"...Riki, if you weren't my girlfriend I'd murder you."

Riki squeals, and plants kisses all over Rietta's cheek. "Aww! I love you too~"

Giving up with a sigh, Rietta returns to Liam's question. "Yes, why?"

Following her example, Liam ignored the PDA-aholic Riki. "Well, shouldn't your... girlfriend change her name? People might pass off the appearance thing, but if they have the same name people are going to get suspicious."

"Ooh! Then I'll be Reina! It's such a pretty name~" Flowers started floating off of Riki, who was now 'Reina'.

"Alright then, that's settled... and Riki looks pretty tired, so I guess we'll resume our lessons tomorrow." Rietta took the hands of both her girls, led them out of the Dance Hall, and back towards their now shared room.

The three of them all decided to just share the bed, since it's huge to begin with. Reina splayed herself all over Rietta, and made Riki lie right against the wall. Having slept in the same bed since childhood, Rietta was used to Reina's sleeping habit.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When the girls woke up, they were all amused to see that Reina had somehow fallen off the bed, and had dragged Rietta's face down with her. This means that Rietta's face was in the carpet, while the rest of her body was on the bed. Luckily, Rietta did not decapitate Reina for this, although the only reason she gave was "You're damn lucky you're my girlfriend". She had the good humor to actually join Riki in laughing, and then the three of them bathed (individually I might add, despite Reina's attempts to go in with Rietta), got dressed, and went to the Dance Hall.

* * *

Rietta danced with Riki twice, and, on the insisting of the two girls, danced with Reina once. Then, she whisked the two girls away to Tango Garden

Why?

Because the two of them love animals!...and Rietta may or may not have missed the peaceful atmosphere.

The instant they got there, the animals surrounded Rietta, being drawn in to her through some type of intuition.

"Ohhh~ Who's this, Princess? She has a pure soul. We've been waiting for one like you..." Reina got all upset, even though they were just animals, but she kept herself from sticking to Rietta too much.

Riki took a step back, surprised. _Pure soul? Rietta? The one that swears constantly and threatens violence on her girlfriend (although she never goes through with it)?_

"O-Oh! That's Rietta, and this is Reina," Riki gestures towards the furious girl in question, "They're my friends that came from far away for the ball, and Rietta's helping me get better at dancing, because she's a professional."

"Ooh... can we see her dance? We want to see her dance..." The animals kept chanting for Rietta to dance for them. Reina grabbed Rietta and dragged her onto the small flower stage.

The two of them decide to dance The Dance of the Hours, since it's one of the few dances that Reina knows. The two of them twirl around continuously, and with Reina as her partner, Rietta didn't feel the least bit dizzy.

When they were done, the animals euphorically clapped, and one blue mouse with sparkly eyes (Rietta suspected that it was the Princess's maid) came up to them and gave them an angel accessory. Reina, not knowing anything about accessories, thought it was a necklace and tried to find the clasp. Rietta shook her head and put it on Reina's head instead. Reina's clothes were enveloped in a white light, and then she was wearing a long, white dress, angel wings, and a halo.

When she looked down and saw what she was wearing, Reina stupidly decided to ruin everything by saying "If I'm an angel, does that mean Rietta is my devil lover~?"

Everyone's jaws slacked at the sudden outburst, and even more so when Rietta's face heated up in response.

Reina stared at her intently, waiting for her to respond. Rietta opened her mouth, but then turned and ran back home, incredibly embarrassed.

Reina watched her sister run away, and put her hands on her cheeks,"Aww, she ran away! So cute~"

Then, she chased after Rietta like the obsessed girl she is. The animals turned to Riki.

"...Are they...?" Riki sighed, and nodded, while rubbing her temple.

"Yeah, Reina and Rietta are dating... Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make sure that nothing bad happens." Riki walked away gracefully, until she was out of sight, and then she started running.

_Knowing Reina's personality, she'll probably tease Rietta until she loses his temper... destroying my room!_

* * *

"Awwww~ C'mon Rietta, let me in~!" Riki came to find Reina throwing herself at the door, probably because Rietta locked her out.

"Calm down, Reina. You're going to make her angry." Riki smacked her double on the head.

Reina sniffled, being of the verge of tears, "B-But I just wanted to make sure she still loves me! She's been surrounded by princes and princesses for almost three weeks, and has been away from me for three years!"

_...So even Reina gets insecure. Then again, Rietta had no diary, and she even locked all the pictures that Reina took in the basement (probably even for the entire three years). It's understandable._

"Well... didn't she let you kiss her a bunch of times?"

"But it wasn't on the mouth! And I did that to her a lot when we were younger!"

"She called you her girlfriend! Several times! And when you clung to her in public, she didn't complain!...Kind of." Adding that seemed to do it, because Reina started crying loudly. Nobody was around right now, but there would be soon if she didn't stop.

After five minutes, the door to the house opened up, and Rietta stood there, face still flushed red, scowling at the crying girl.

"Hey, you. Stop your crying, I'm trying to take a nap." She snapped, before turning around and taking a few steps back inside; however, on her third step she turned back around, and stared at Reina.

"...Well? You coming?" The two girls stood there, shocked.

"Weren't you angry?" Riki asked, slightly awed.

Rietta knitted her eyebrows together,"...What? No. Why would you ask that?"

"You locked the door!" Reina whined.

"...The door was unlocked. Did you just automatically assume that I locked it?" Rietta seemed to get even grumpier, and Reina's face flushed.

"T-Then why'd you run away from meee?!" Rietta's face seemed to turn into an even deeper red, and she coughed into her hand.

"W-Well... it's kind of embarrassing isn't it?"

Reina grinned, and tackled Rietta to the carpet. "SO CUTE!"

Needless to say, Rietta locked herself in the bathroom to avoid Reina's love attacks all night.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 25. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rietta spent the previous day drilling dancing into Riki's mind, and today she touring Reina around the kingdom at Riki's suggestion.

Riki grinned as she watched the two leave. _Reina's going to owe me so much for this... but I finally get a break, at least._

* * *

First, they went towards Samba Square. Markets'n'stuff.

Reina clung to Rietta's arm the entire time, trying to emit rays of _'SHE'S MINE EVERYBODY GO AWAY'_.

Eventually, they came upon Klaus, who was looking around warily. When he saw the two girls making their way slowly towards him, he almost ran away, but he recognized that cold uncaring stare in Rietta's eyes, and the hateful glare in Reina's, and knew that he was most likely safe. Being the friendly idiot he is, he walked up to the two of them, waving slightly.

"Hey there, I don't think I've seen you two around here before. What's your names?"

Reina clutched Rietta's arm tighter, and glared harder. "I'm Reina, and this is MY girlfriend Rietta. Mine!"

Seeing the casual apathetic face on Rietta, Klaus made the correct guess that this was an everyday occurrence.

Rietta raised her other hand in a half-hearted greeting, "We're guests of Princess Riki."

"Oh, Riki? Where is she?" Klaus looked around for his (maybe) friend.

"Probably back at the house. Even though she **should** be practicing." Rietta muttered, and Klaus quickly tried to make an exit.

"Oh, well, I'll go see if she's doing that. If you'll excuse me..." He speed-walked away from the girls, off in the direction of the Castle Area.

The two girls watched him leave, and when he was out of sight Reina turned to Rietta.

"He didn't even tell us his name."

"That was Klaus, he's kind of a popular guy." Rietta waved it off, and Reina knew just from that that Rietta did not really care about him, so they continued their walk in peace.

After a little while they ran into Vince, who was staring at a stand that was giving away free milk. Reina noticed that he was the double of Victor, and tried to steer Rietta away from him without her noticing, but stupid Vince turned around and saw the way Reina was staring at him warily, and he walked over in his friendly manner.

"Oh, hey! I saw you guys with Liam yesterday, are you friends? A friend of Liam's is a friend of mine... so, I'm Vince. Who are you?" It was then that Rietta finally noticed he exists, but she surprised Reina by appearing casual.

"Nice to meet you. Yes, I am well acquainted with Liam. I am Rietta, and this is my girlfriend Reina." Rietta calmly answered all of his questions, making Reina go into shock.

Vince blinked, and pointed at Reina,"...Your... girlfriend?"

Reina snapped out of it to retort, "You got a problem with that?"

Vince put his hands in submission,"No, that's not what I meant, sorry!"

He looked around, and then leaned in closer, "To tell you the truth, I think my friend Michael is the same way as you two."

"That's because he is." Rietta just bludgeons Vince's head with her blatant comment.

"How do you know that?"

"Because he has wavy red hair." _And he hangs out with you willingly._ Rietta adds mentally.

Vince blinked again,"How... have you met him before?"

_Eh, fuck it._ "Yeah, sure. We had awesome discussions about life."

Rietta was so good at lying, she could do it with a straight face. This ability made it difficult for others to tell she was lying, so Vince bought it. What an idiot.

"Cool. Anyway, where are you girls from?" This time he turned to Reina.. who is sadly a terrible liar about anything that's not about Rietta.

"...It's... we're from... the North." Reina fidgeted around, not knowing what to say.

"Oh... ok." Vince kind of just raised his eyebrow at her, but shrugged it off as shyness. "Well, it was nice meeting you. See you around, I guess?"

"Definitely." Rietta nodded, and they split ways.

When the two of them got far enough away from each other, Reina started grumbling.

"You were paying more attention to him than me." She pouted, and Rietta sighed.

"Geez, what's with you being so clingy? It's not a bad idea to make political relations, is it?"

Reina groaned, "Nooo, not politics! i hate it when you talk about politics!"

(Back at home, it was well known that Rietta had a large interest in politics, and that's actually how she and Keith got to be such great friends; they both loved arguing over politics. That's also why Reina did not care much about their friendship; they argued so often that she didn't see Keith as a threat.)

They walked towards Jive Park, passing Cha-Cha arena, and Rietta could see Cesar standing around in there, but she did not want to corrupt Reina any further. When they came to the park, they saw Liam sitting on a bench, reading a book. He looked up when he heard footsteps coming towards him, and smiled at the two girls.

"Hello there, Reina and Rietta. What are you two up to?" Reina smiled back at him, unable to resist his friendliness, it was like a disease.

"I'm just showing Reina around the kingdom. What are you doing?" Rietta leaned over his shoulder, taking a peek at his book. It was titled _**Cooking for pros**_.

Rietta looked at him, surprised. "...Liam, you can cook?"

"Huh?... Oh, yeah. My parents said a Prince shouldn't have to cook... but, y'know. It's a nice hobby." Liam shrugged.

"Are you cooking for your girlfriend? That'd be nice." Reina smiled. She didn't really know if he had a girlfriend (but he did), she was just assuming based on her fairytales that all princes had a princess.

Liam's face went red, and he was speechless. Rietta shook her head at Reina, and pulled her away.

"We'll be going now, Liam. Have fun with Olive!" Reina started giggling, and they left Liam behind, deciding to go home. It was quite late out by now, and they had plenty of time in the future to take walks around the kingdom.

* * *

"Riki~ We're back!" Reina skipped through the front door, not bothering to knock, with Rietta following behind her. "Hope you weren't bummed to not have us around~!"

Riki turned towards the door eagerly, her whole body kicking into action, and she tackled both of the girls.

"It was so~ boring without you two~! Tomorrow, the three of us will go around town, okay?!" Riki rubbed her face all over the cheeks of her two gals, making Reina both uncomfortable and jealous (_HOW DARE SHE RUB HER FACE ON MY GIRLFRIEND_). Rietta took this in stride, already being used to Reina's over-affectionate nature.

"Fine, whatever. Let's just go to sleep." Rietta carefully carried the doubles over to the bed, tossed them in, and then climbed in between the two. Both immediately clung to either side of her, and they fell asleep like that.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 26. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In her half-awake sleepy daze, Rietta is vaguely aware that it is much quieter than it should be. There is no giggles, no sleepy noises, and no unbearable heat because of the girls clinging to her sides.

Rietta's body jerks forward , uneasy as shit. She looks around, and notices that there is NOBODY HERE. She throws back the sheets and covers, and was rushing to get dressed when Kip suddenly popped up.

"Are you looking for the princess and Reina? They went to Jive Park, and they didn't want to wake you up because you looked really tired."

Rietta stands there, midway through the motion of putting a shirt on, and imagines the two of them trying to quietly move around her. She smiles, finishes getting dressed, and walks out the door while tying up her tie. Kip floats beside her for a while, and then parts ways with her, warning her to have the princess ready for a dance competition later, and Rietta wonders why she didn't learn about this sooner.

She breaks out into a jog. For some reason she was having a bad feeling about this.

* * *

When she finally got to Jive Park, she saw her two gals fighting with.. Isabel?

_What the hell are they talking to her about? That doesn't look too good._

As she gets closer, she becomes able to actually hear what they're saying.

". . .No! Don't tell anyone! Please, Isabel?!" Riki pleads the cruel pigtailed girl in front of her.

"Heeheehee! No way! I'm gonna tell EVERYONE!" Isabel lets out an evil laugh, and runs away. Rietta walks up to the dejected duo, getting their attention. The two look grateful to see her, and throw themselves at her.

"RIIIIIETTAAAAA! ISABEL KNOWS EVERYTHING! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DOOOO?!" The two of them whine loudly.

Rietta pats their heads, and pushes them away gently. "Calm down. How much is 'everything'?"

Riki hiccups, "She knows that you were my double-"

Reina interjects, "-and that we're from another world-"

"-and even that the two of you are half-siblings!" That did it, Rietta's eyes got an intense anger burning in them, making the two back away from her a few steps.

"All right, here's what we'll do: Reina and I will go track down Isabel and have a... 'talk'... and Riki will go to the Dance Hall and get ready for the competition."

"But I don't have a partner, right?"

"...I'll partner up with you just for today. You will have to tell your father yourself why you won't be participating in the Ball in Saint-Lyon... but we can go with you for support, I guess."

Riki nods, and runs off towards the Dance Hall. Rietta turns back to Reina, and motions towards the southwest direction, while holding out on of her arms.

"I saw her go towards Rumba Beach. Shall we?" Reina laughs, and loops her arm around Rietta's.

"Yes, indeed we shall."

* * *

Arriving at Rumba Beach, Rietta immediately regrets it. Staring out at the waves is the lecherous Cesar, Rietta's new worst enemy (Vince himself isn't the problem). Sadly, Reina doesn't know about this, and calls out to him.

"Hey! You!" Cesar swivels around, and stares at them with some kind of weird emotion.

"...You two are..." Reina internally freaks out, _OH SHIT DID SHE ALREADY TELL HIM WE'RE HALF SIBLINGS?! Fuck everything else, this is more important!_

"You two are smitten with me, huh? Running over here so hard, did you want to see me that badly? I've never even met you two before... but I guess that's okay.." He moves closer to them, and Rietta sticks her foot out, kicking him in the gut. Cesar doubles over in pain.

"Pay attention! Have you seen a girl with purple pigtails go past here?" Cesar looks up, horrified.

"Don't tell me... you're actually infatuated with Isabel?!" He went off into a series of dramatic poses. It was starting to dawn on Reina why Rietta didn't introduce her to him.

"No. I'm already taken," Rietta pulls up Reina's hand, "by my girlfriend right here."

Cesar looked like he was turned into stone, and had one of those old-timey manga faces of surprise. Rietta decided that this was not worth it, and dragged Reina towards Samba Square, taking an educated guess based on the last time she chased Isabel around.

"That was a waste of our god damned time. I hate that guy. Never associate with him, alright? If you do, you'll be having some troubles in the future."

Reina took that to heart, but also decided to tease her. "Why is that~? You going to get all jealous~?"

Rietta did not respond to that, she just moved quicker, which kind of answered Reina's question, in a way. Reina grinned, _So cute~_

By this time they had made it to Samba square, and they could see the familiar view of Klaus being mobbed by Lauren and Brenda.

As per usual, the two girls are bickering over the (apparently hot as shit) prince. The two girls approached them, and Klaus looked at them desperately as if they were his last hope.

"Rietta! Reina! Did you need something?!" _PLEASE SAY YES_, Klaus's eyes were pleading with them. Lauren and Brenda became extremely wary of the two new girls, and glared at them menacingly.

"What do you want!?" Lauren barked at them, making Reina hide behind Rietta.

"Has anyone seen Isabel?" Lauren looks slightly surprised.

"My younger sister? She went towards Jive Park." Rietta and Reina were about to leave, but then Rietta turned back around and spoke to the girls one more time.

"By the way, shouldn't you two stop putting up the facade that you actually like him? It's pretty obvious that you're just fighting over him for the sake of interacting with each other." Reina giggles, and grabs Rietta's arm, dragging her away from the awestruck trio.

"Are you really one to give love advice, Rietta?"

Rietta grunted, "Shut up. It... just took me awhile."

Reina laughed at the way to Jive Park. Hanging around, like the antisocial prince he is, is Kiefer. Reina instantly recognizes him, and runs up to him in her friendly fashion.

"Hey! Have you seen Isabel?" Kiefer narrows his eyes at her, and raises an eyebrow.

"...Riki? What are you doing?" The two girls freeze up, but try to play it off.

"No, no, no. I'm Reina, just a friend of the princess. Now, have you seen Isabel or not?"

Kiefer looks at her up and down, hard. After an uncomfortable period of time (which was actually only three minutes), he sighs and points to the castle.

"I saw her go towards the Castle." The girls thank him, and quickly make an exit.

"I underestimated him, he's dangerous. We should avoid him." Reina glanced at Rietta as they ran, and saw Rietta give a slight nod. She smiled lightly at Rietta's compliance, and they trotted towards the castle.

* * *

The two of them ran up towards the only guard in sight, and asked him if he had seen Isabel.

"That infamous trouble maker? She went off towards the lake."

"Thank you. Let's go, Reina." Rietta grabs Reina and they take off for Viennese Waltz lake.

* * *

At the lake, Vince (of course) is playing with a boat that's roped to the moor. He sees the two, and walks over to them.

"Rietta, Reina! What's up~?"

"Hey, Vince! Have you seen Isabel?" Reina chirps, semi-relieved to see that nobody has been told... yet.

"Isabel?... You know, I DID see her at the entrance of Tango Garden. You should try there." Suddenly, Michael comes running from some god damned place.

"Hey! Vince! Did you get things set up yet?" Vince's smile brightened, and he bids the girls farewell, going over to his friend.

"...Well, looks like things worked out for them." Reina turns back to her girlfriend, and hugs her. "Maybe we'll be okay, too."

"Not if we don't get that god damned Isabel! Let's go."

* * *

They see Liam looking at flowers, and jog up to him. He sees them coming towards him, and smiles at them.

"Hey, girls. What's the hurry?" Reina had to speak, seeing as Rietta was too busy trying not to choke on air. She patted her on her back.

"Have you seen Isabel?!" Liam, sensing the situation, pointed toward a patch of vines.

"She went through that patch of skunk vines. She's probably at the Dance Hall. Go quickly, maybe you can catch her." The two girls nod at him, and make their way towards the Dance Hall.

* * *

They walk through the door, and scan the crowd. Luckily, pink hair is not a common thing to have, so they found her easily. However, right as they were about to get to her, Kip came, yelling at them about the competition.

"Finally! The competition is starting soon! Rietta, you have to get ready!" Kip dragged them away, and brought them towards the Princess's dressing room.

"Here! Put this wig on, wear this suit, and this chest binder!" Riki shoves all the aforementioned things into Rietta's arms the moment she walked in, and forces Reina and Kip to leave, but stays behind to help Rietta get dressed.

* * *

When they walk out, Reina gets a nosebleed from the sight of Rietta wearing a short, black haired wig, a dark blue suit (with a pink tie), and a pair of fake glasses. Riki herself is wearing a long, pink dress with a hairband on her head with a blue bow on it.

"Why am I dressed like this?" Rietta grumbles, making the two doubles giggle.

"Well, you don't want people thinking that you're two-timing your girlfriend, do you? Besides... you look hot~!" Riki slaps Rietta on the back, grinning deviously.

Rietta says nothing, seeming to be contemplating something, so they all take advantage of that and drag her onto the dance floor.

As they watch the other dancers perform, waiting for their turn, Rietta mulls over certain thoughts about certain people.

_Hmmm... what to do..._

A sharp elbow in the side brings her back into reality, as well as Riki's whispers. "Psst! Rietta, we're next!"

"Why are you-"

"And now, our very own Princess Riki with her dancing instructor, Riet!" Rietta almost falls over in a comic-like fashion.

"C'mon, _Riet_! Let's get going!" Riki dramatically leads Rietta onto the dance floor, and the music for the Turkish March comes on.

The pair passionately dance around in circles, the crowd growing increasingly quieter (it was quite loud since they were all anticipating the results). When they had finished, the crowd was stone silent for a full minute, but then broke into deafening applause.

The announcer comes up to them, and raises Riet's hand, "And the winners are Riet and Riki! Give them another round of applause, they deserve it!"

The crowd claps again, until a voice interupts everything.

"WAIT!"

The MC stares out into the crowd, shocked. "It seems that an unsatisfied audience member has raised her voice?!"

The crowd parted, and Isabel stood in the middle of the clearing.

"We have cheaters in this competition!" Reina, off to the side, froze up like an iceberg. The dancing duo, however, remained calm. It wouldn't help if they looked incredibly suspicious to boot.

The king appears from nowhere, "What?! Cheaters?! If you're telling the truth, this will be quite a problem! They will be disqualified!"

"Unfortunately, it's true! 'Riet' and Riki over there cheated!" Isabel points at Rietta and Riki, making everyone whips their heads toward the cool duo, who are not suprised at this declaration.

"First of all, Riet isn't even a guy! She's a girl! Not only that, but she was brought here by Princess Riki to be her double for the Saint-Lyon Ball!"

The King frowned, "...Putting aside the gender issue, which is not an issue at all, they look nothing alike. How would that even pass? I think I would be able to tell if somebody impersonated my own daughter!"

The crowd makes jeers at Isabel, making her nervous.

"Well, it's true! I heard her and Reina speak about it in the park!"

"Was anyone else with you to prove this?"

"Well, no-"

"Nevertheless, it's impossible for that to happen. Not only that... but you're known for making trouble. If you have no concrete proof, I can't believe you."

The crowd gets louder, tossing garbage and shit at Isabel. She bursts into tears and runs out.

Rietta takes this as her best opportunity, and slips off her wig.

"...She was telling the truth about me being female though, your majesty. My name's actually Rietta." Everyone turns to her (even the doubles), shocked.

"What are you doing?!" Riki screeched under her breath.

"Well, like I said, that's no big deal. You ARE a dancing instructor though, right?"

"Of course. I have plenty of trophies to prove it, if you need proof. However, they're all back at my house at the moment. I can make the trip back if you want."

The king shook his head, and waved it off.

"That's fine, I can tell you're a nice young lady... Rietta, right?" She nods, "Ok then. Nice to meet you. This concludes today's competition!"

Everyone claps, and Reina comes up and squeezes the two of them, "I was so scared for a moment there! Let's go home~"

Rietta wraps an arm around each girl's waist, and the three of them go back home.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 27. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"...Hey! Rietta, wake up!" Rietta shuts her eyes tighter, not wanting to get up.

"Hey! Get up, we gotta go do something super important!" Rietta opened one eye to get a view-ful of Reina and Riki getting all up in her face, and pushes herself away.

"Fine-SHIT!" She falls off the bed, smacking her head on the ground. She hears giggling on the bed, and growls her frustration.

"Hehe-Sorry, sorry! Don't be-pffft- so angry~!" Reina pulled Rietta up, and the two girls petted her head.

"Now my head hurts like a motherfucker... now, what do you want that's _so important_?" Rietta's voice dripped with sarcasm on her last two words.

"Well... we wanted you to go to the Forest Concert with us today..." Riki spoke in a small voice, nervous, but still wanting to go. Reina nodded her head eagerly in agreement.

"...Geez," Rietta let out a heavy sigh, "fine, we'll go. Get me some clothes, I don't feel like moving."

The two girls squeal, and jump off the bed to fetch clothes befitting of their beloved grouch.

* * *

"God, I feel like shit." Rietta complains for the hundredth time, and her two companions roll their eyes.

"Yeah yeah yeah, you've said that for the past hour. Can't you just enjoy the concert? They even gave us special seating!" Reina squealed, flailing in her throne-like chair. They were seated as thus: Riki on the far right, Rietta in the middle, and Reina on the far left.

"Not really. This outfit they threw at me is even worse than the one you two gave me. Why do I have to dress like a prince?" Rietta takes off the fake glasses they had given her, and rubbed her eyes.

"But you look great!" Riki tried to encourage Rietta, but it only made her laugh.

"I look great as a guy? That's just splendid. Anyway, this music is pretty good. Pretty amazing that it's made by a bunch of flying animals."

"I know, right? They hold this every year, and it's always fantastic!" Riki gushed.

Reina, starting to feel ignored, chimed in. "They must work super hard! Whenever our school chorus has a concert, it's after they've practiced everyday for three months."

"We had a school chorus?" Rietta looks surprised.

"...You didn't notice everyone running through the halls singing all the time?"

"I thought they were just crazy." The conversation abruptly stops when the music stops, and the animals approach the trio of girls.

"We would like to give the pure one a gift for blessing our concert with her presence..." They held up a green feather accessory, and Rietta takes it politely, but made a mental note to give it to the girls later.

"Thank you. Come on girls, let's go home. I'm really not feeling too well." Rietta leans on Reina, and slings her arm around Riki's shoulders.

The three of them stagger home, with Rietta becoming increasingly heavier, until her head slumps down.

"Rietta, knock it off, you're too heavy!" Reina whined, being the bearer of most of the weight.

When there is no response, Riki uses her free hand to lift up Rietta's head. Her eyes are shut tight, and it looks like she's in pain.

"Oh-Shit! Reina, she's unconscious!" Reina freaks out, and the two of them hurry back faster.

* * *

"She has a minor concussion, as well as a slight fever. It's probably because of overwork. She should be fine after she rests for the night and tomorrow." The mouse doctor puts away all her tiny animal instruments, and floats towards the door.

"What a relief! Thank you!" Reina sheds a few fake tears for dramatic effect. The doc mouse nods, and leaves the house.

The girls hover over Rietta, not knowing what to do.

Kip looks at them, and shakes his head. The two of them were clearly being transparent about their separate feelings (which were most likely the same, considering they're doubles), but Rietta's well being is more important right now.

"You two should jump in bed with her to make sure she stays warm, it'd be bad if she also caught a cold." Kip was just being sarcastic to lighten the mood, but they looked at each other and then did just that. The picture of the three of them cuddling together is the most adorable thing Kip had ever seen. He sighed, and flipped off the light switch.

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 28. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

_Rietta found herself clothed in prince attire, staring into a mirror. However, not only was she clothed in prince clothing, but she was also tied to a chair; hands and feet._

_"What the hell.. Where the fuck am I?" A tiny girl with dark purple pigtails popped out from thin air, and giggled._

_"You're in the Sea of Unconsciousness. It's also where dead people go. Don't worry though, you're only sleeping."_

_"Oh? Does that mean that the dead people have wings or some shit like that?" Rietta raised an eyebrow at the girl, amused with her hallucination._

_"Ah... I don't think so. I don't, and neither does my friend. I'm dead, but I don't know about my friend. She's been here for quite a while."_

_"Who's your friend?"_

_The girl put a finger to her mouth, and grinned. "That's a secret~ The living can't be told too much about the life beyond death. Anyway, the Sea of Unconsciousness shows you your true image."_

_The girl takes a closer look at Rietta, "I guess you're meant to be the Prince Charming to some waiting damsel, but you're also attached to somebody else. That's cool, I had a girlfriend before I died too. I died when I switched our bodies with magic. This is actually her body, but it's my soul. From your expression, I guess you don't understand. That's fine, I was mostly only speaking for the sake of talking. At any rate, you should probably wake up before my friend comes back from her errand. You may be alive at the moment, but you won't be once she comes back."_

_"Why?"_

_The girl shrugs, "I dunno. She has a weird fixation for killing unconscious people whenever she has the chance."_

_Not getting any reply, the girl laughs, and that was the last thing Rietta heard._

* * *

Rietta woke up, noticed that she was drenched in sweat, and that it was unbearably hot. She looked to both sides of her, and stared at the culprits. Riki and Reina were snoring softly, and were the main sources of heat. Rietta quietly untangled herself from them, and went to the bathroom to take a bath.

After she closed the door, she slipped out of her clothes... which weren't the ones she went to bed in yesterday. Actually... they looked like the prince outfit she was wearing in that dream!

_Shit, was that real?...I guess I can think of this as a gift?_ Rietta folds up the clothes carefully, and puts them on the sink. After that, she draws the hot bath water, and locks the door (why didn't she do that first?) to prevent Reina or Riki from coming in unknowingly.

As Rietta washed up, she couldn't help but wonder what the dream could have meant. After all, you don't just wind up there everyday, probably.

_That little girl... I didn't get her name. Too bad, she seemed like a nice kid. Sad that she died so young though. I wonder if her old girlfriend was freaked out though, I mean, she said that she had switched their bodies, right? That can't be too pleasant to discover when you wake up._

Rietta shook her head. _...I don't have the time to be thinking about that anymore. I should think about what I'm going to do in the future. _

Switching gears towards the future, Rietta got out, dried off, and put on the clothes she had found in the bathroom. Right as she was finished, Kip somehow got through the door all by himself.

"Good morning, Rietta. I hope you're feeling better."

"Yeaah, I guess. Still kind of sleepy, so I'll go right back to bed probably."

"Good idea... but before that... do you like amusement parks?"

Rietta cocked her eyebrow at the unexpected question, "They're ok... why?"

"Well, I just so happen to have three tickets right here," Kip flashed the tickets (!) at her, "and I wanted to know if you and the girls would go for me, because something came up and I can no longer go."

Rietta takes the tickets from him. "I guess I could take them off your hands. Reina loves amusement parks, so Riki probably does too."

Kip nods, and let Rietta return to bed.

After she has fallen back asleep, he grins that creepy grin, and laughs maniacally.

"All according to plan. Now I just gotta go set things up..."

* * *

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Day 29. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When Reina and Riki woke up, they were surprised to see that Rietta wasn't there at all. They looked around, but Rietta was nowhere in sight. Just as they were getting up to go look for her, she walks in through the front door, wearing a navy-blue jacket, a white t-shirt with a blue stripe across the chest, and a knee-length blue skirt. They squeal and tackle her simultaneously, knocking her over. Rietta yelped in surprise, and smack them on the head when they landed.

"You idiots, stop doing that! Now, go get dressed. We're going to the amusement park."

Reina and Riki share a look of surprise, but they comply. It's not often that Rietta does something nice.

* * *

Reina and Riki wore identical pink tank-tops and magenta skirts, but Reina had her heart-shaped hair clip in, while Riki had her weird ponytail. They each took an arm of Rietta's, and the trio walked towards the amusement park.

Once they were there, Rietta flashed the apparently premium tickets at the entrance, and they were given a special laminated stamp that let them go on aaaall the rides.

"Where did you even get these tickets, Rietta?" Riki leaned over Rietta's shoulder. Since they were roughly the same height, it was fairly easy.

"I got them from Kip." Riki was surprised, _Since when did Kip do cool things?_

"That's nice~ Let's go on the merry-go-round!" Reina drags the two of them towards the aforementioned ride, and they discover that there's only two horsies per set of poles. Rietta jumps onto a horse sideways, and puts both of the girls on her lap with a grunt.

Riki's face heated up, "W-What are you doing?! People are watching!"

Rietta replied with a solemn "That's fine."

Meanwhile, Reina was giggling, highly amused by Riki's reaction to Rietta's solution.

Things continued like this for the remainder of the day; with Rietta creepily forcing both girls to ride with her in every park ride.

Finally, they arrive at the last one: the Ferris Wheel. By now, it's almost sunset, and the three of them line up for the ride.

"Ooh, the Ferris Wheel is last, huh? It's just like the last time we were at an amusement park~!" Reina twirled around, excited.

"Oh yeah, you never told me what happened at the fair."

Rietta spoke quickly to avoid disaster, "That's not important now, it was in the past. C'mon, it's our turn, let's go."

She helped Reina and Riki get onto their car, and then climbed on herself. She had the two of them sit on the seat opposite of hers. The two girls had a perfect view of the kingdom, and even better, a perfect view of the sunset behind Rietta's head, while she stares at them with weird eyes.

"...Are you two having fun?" The sudden serious tone of Rietta's voice bring them back, and they just stare back at Rietta.

"What?" They respond at the same time.

"I asked if you two were having fun. Because I've only been to the amusement park one other time, I can't exactly gauge the 'fun' level of these rides... So, I have to ask."

The three of them sit there in silence, until the doubles burst into a giggle fit.

"...What are you doing?" Rietta was now irritated, so they tried to stop.

Riki spoke inbetween her giggles, "I-It's just-"

"-you're too serious!" Reina finished.

"You're damn right I'm serious."

Riki waves it off, "Of course we had fun! You made us go on every single ride together! Why'd you do that anyway? Shouldn't you be spending time with your girlfriend?"

"I am."

"No, I meant JUST with your girlfriend."

"And I said I am." It dawned on Reina what Rietta was suggesting here, and she started grinning evilly. She turned to Riki, and slung an arm around her shoulders.

"You don't get it?"

"Get what? How aren't you mad?!"

"Didn't you hear her? She said she IS spending time with her girlfriend~"

"And thats YOU! YOU'RE her girlfriend!" Riki snapped, getting angry at the teasing Reina.

"...I was actually talking about both of you, if you don't mind."

A short period of silence followed as Riki absorbed this information into her mind. When it finally occurred to her what Rietta was suggesting, her face went a deep crimson.

"W-What?! Are you saying that you want to date BOTH OF US?! And Reina, HOW ARE YOU NOT UPSET AT THIS?!" Riki shrieked, slightly mortified, but also a tad bit happy.

"Why would I be angry? I'm basically just sharing her with myself. Besides, doesn't that just means she'll love us twice as much?" Reina snickered.

"..." Riki stared at the two of them in shock, "...You're serious?"

"I'm always serious... except for when I'm not... but I **am** serious about this." Rietta grabbed one of Riki's hands, and Reina grabbed the other. "So, will you accept our proposal of dating the two of us?"

Riki felt tears come to her eyes, but she still gave them a silly smile.

"Of course!"

* * *

_**. . . . . .Epilogue. . . . .**_

_After the Ball in Saint-Lyon, they had come clean to the King about everything (in private, of course). He was angry at first, but then he felt too emotional about his daughter falling in love, so he let it slide. He then recognized the three of them as a real "couple"._

_Three years later they were officially married. It was a grand event, with pink and blue ribbons everywhere. Lots of people were crying about how beautiful it was, and Kip was very proud that he was the essiential cause of it._

_For the wedding, Rietta was forced to grow out her hair to waist-length, and had to wear a dark blue dress. There was much opposition on her part, but Reina and Riki overruled it._

_Reina wore a deep magenta gown that had a five-foot long train, and Riki wore a light baby pink version of it._

_After the wedding, Riki and Reina took over the thrones, with Rietta as their "royal adviser". They adopted many orphaned children, and were highly loved by their citizens._

* * *

_**. . . .Several years later. . . .**_

". . .and they all lived happily ever after. The End." Reina closed the book, and smiled brightly at the small group of young children sitting in front of her, listening with rapt attention.

"Again! Again!" They chanted.

Reina laughed, "But I just finished reading it!"

They hear a chuckle from the doorway,"That's too bad, I actually enjoy that story."

"As do I~"

All of them turn their attention to the door, and see Rietta leaning against the door frame, with Riki right next to her, dressed in queen-like attire. The children ran up to hug them.

Reina watched as they ran, and could see how the years had treated her two lovers.

Rietta actually _did_ need glasses now, because apparently, fake glasses fuck up your vision. Go figure. Not only that, but she had recently chopped off almost all of her hair, making it look like it had when she was a child.

Riki, on the other hand, had stopped making rash decisions all the time (mostly because it would cause trouble for Rietta, who'd have to clean it all up), and was maturing rather nicely.

_Meanwhile... I don't think I've changed at all._

Reina sighs, and feels a soothing pressure on her head, and looks up to see Rietta petting her hair again.

"'S wrong?" Reina smiled softly.

"It's nothing now."

* * *

**********************************BEFORE THE NOTE: If you possibly liked/hated this, or if you see a mistake anywhere, please let me know! I hate making mistakes, and because I'm the Princiest Prince ever, I love attention \oco/.  
**

****LONG NOTE AHEAD, YOU DON'T NEED TO READ THIS**  
**

**YESSS, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, I HAVE MANAGED TO FINISHED SOMETHING THAT DIDN'T NEED TO BE DONE FOR SCHOOL! MAN, THIS IS GREAT.**

**Too bad it's not as long as I'd wanted BI. But you can't always get what you want, I suppose. It's probably because for the most part, I had no script to stick to, so my imagination took over. I love scripts, even though I tend to fuck with them. Also, I was kind of in a rush to get to my DQ story... because I *love* playing Dragon Quest IX.  
**

**Now onto my notes on the story:  
**

**1. The reason that Rietta never explicitly admitted to being "Riki" in the story was because in the actual non-PR story, Riki actually did die. That's why she only showed up in the PR version. Luciano was actually the real ending.  
**

**2. PR ending only exists is because I hate Lucas.  
**

**A lot.  
**

**And I think it's jerkish to make the main character leave her love interest behind and date their other self. Henceforth: Lucas was replaced with "Riki".  
**

**3. God I hate Klaus. Originally, I was going to let Princess Riki end up with him, but then midway through the ending I said fuck that and made him stay forever alone. I only kept that bodyguard part for Lauren and Brenda, who I always had thought should have gotten together instead.  
**

**Anyway: FUCK KLAUS. He's a terrible partner; you have to go through so much shit and be so careful to get him as your partner, I don't find it worth the hassle. Even the walkthrough for the game didn't do much good for me, I had to figure out most of the game by myself.  
**

**4. The reason that the Ball in Saint-Lyon doesn't exist in the PR ending is because it wasn't needed.  
**

**5. I forgot all about Isabel... oh well.  
**

**6. I've actually grown to hate this title.  
**

**7. The "Sea of Unconsciousness" is not just something I pulled out of my ass (kind of), it's actually something you might see reoccurring in future stories until we get to the one it is actually an important element for. (But I'm not going to tell you what that is, heh)  
**

**If you actually this far, thanks for reading!**


End file.
